Kenya Airways has plunged into KES12.2 billion losses in the six months to June 30, reflecting a sharp reversal from the KES513 million net earnings it recorded during a similar period in 2024.

In a market update on Tuesday, the national flag carrier attributed the dip in earnings during the half to delays in aircraft deliveries and global shortages of spare parts, a factor that negatively affected KQ's fleet operations. 

Kenya Airways CEO Allan Kilavuka, however, announced that one of the three aircraft that had been grounded for during the half for maintenance has since resumed services starting July.

During the half, KQ operated with at least three aircraft grounded, forcing the company to suffer significant capacity constraints that negatively impacted the carriers flight schedules. 

Dip in passenger numbers

As a result, the national flag carrier experienced a 14 percent decrease in passenger numbers to 2.2 million travelers, which led to a 19 percent or KES17 billion dip in Revenue Passenger Kilometres (RPKs).

The company's operating loss for the half-year was KES6.23 billion, a decrease from KES1.3 billion profit realized in the first six months to June 2024, while revenue contracted to KES74.5 billion from a higher KES91.5 billion realized during the comparable half last year.

Kenya's flag carrier plunged into insolvency in 2018 after an ambitious expansion program left the company grappling with millions of dollars in debt.

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