Kenya Airways reports more than double half-year loss to Ksh.21.7B

National carrier Kenya Airways (KQ) has more than doubled its half-year losses from Ksh.9.8 billion to a loss after tax of Ksh.21.7 billion in first six months of 2023.

The airline said the losses were exacerbated by the fluctuation of the Kenyan shilling against the dollar, costing it an estimated Ksh.15 billion in Forex losses.

Kenya Airways Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Hellen Mathuka stated: “The main driver of the losses have been the weak shilling against the dollar, which has seen us pay an extra Ksh.15 billion on our dollar denominated obligations.”

On the upside, the airline has reported an operating profit for the first time in six years, with CEO Allan Kilavuka adding that if the shilling remained stable they would have had a loss of only Ksh.600 million.

“This is the first time we have realized an operating profit in six years, which means we are heading in the right direction,” he said.

Kilavuka remains optimistic of the future, expressing confidence in the airline’s revival plan despite being weighed down by historical debts that they had acquired.

He further added that they have increased its flight frequency by 28 per cent and are further planning to increase its frequency in some of its route including London and New York.

“We are looking to increase our frequency on key markets where we have seen demand grow and we have also partnered with other carriers to expand our network,” said the KQ boss.

On time performance of the airline also improved from 58 per cent in 2022 to 76 per cent in 2023, with the airline aiming for a global best practice standard of 80 per cent on time performance.