The loss, for the financial year ended December 2020, is 2.8 times more than the Ksh12.98 billion ($118 million) net loss it had posted a year earlier, and now deals a major blow to the recovery efforts of the national carrier.
KQ chairman Michael Joseph says the outlook still looks bleak and the airline will be seeking a right-sized network to match the prevailing demand.
“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,” said Mr Joseph.
KQ’s loss, also the worst ever results in corporate Kenya, came on the back of strict Covid-19 control measures across the globe that crushed demand for air travel.
The airline says that passenger revenue dropped by 67.5 per cent to Ksh33.7 billion ($307 million) as passenger numbers reduced by 65.7 per cent to 1.8 million.
“Approximately 70 per cent of the total passengers carried in 2020 were flown during the first three months of the year, demonstrating the drop in demand as the global crisis deepened during the year,” said Mr Joseph.
Total income dipped by 58.9 per cent to Ksh52.8 billion ($481 million) 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 Ksh128.76 billion ($1.2 billion).
No comments:
Post a Comment