The last instance the airline made a profit was in 2012 when it closed with net earnings at Sh1.66b
Kenya Airways, the country’s national airline, has recorded a bigger loss for the year ending 31st December 2020 as compared to previous year due to the effects of the pandemic.
According to its records, the airline recorded a net loss of Sh36.22b as compared to the year ending 31st December 2019’s loss of Sh12.99b, attributed to the new pandemic measures that dealt a major blow to the airlines’ recovery strategies.
In fact, according to Michael Joseph, KQ chairman, the future still looks bleak for the airline.
“The Covid-19 global outbreak in 2020 was beyond anyone’s prediction and its impact on the industry is expected to continue affecting air travel demand for the next two to three years,” he said.
2020 was one of the worst years for the company, as during the period, KQ was forced to ground its airplanes, lose revenue, scale back its services as well as reduce its expenses. With airlines on the ground, KQ recorded a huge drop in passenger revenue, from Sh103.6b in 2019 to Sh33.7b in 2020. The number of passengers uplifted also declined by 65.7% to 1.8 million passengers. In fact, according to its report, approximately 70% of the total passengers carried in 2020 were flown in the first three months.
Total income for the company decreased by 58.9% to Sh52.8b from Sh128.3b in 2019 underlining the impact of a sharp fall in passenger numbers as countries restricted movement to contain the spread of Covid-19. The latest loss means that KQ has now gone for the eighth straight year without profits, extending its accumulated losses to Sh128.76b. The last instance the airline made a profit was in 2012 when it closed with net earnings at Sh1.66b.
