Kenya Airways net loss for the six months ended June has widened by 67.3 per cent to Sh14.3 billion on account of Covid-19 disruptions, which have led to the grounding of flights.
The national carrier on Friday said the passenger numbers dropped by more than a half to 1.1 million compared to 2.4 million same period last year, representing a whopping 56 per cent. “Operations were severely impacted by the Covid-19 crisis resulting in depressed half-year results,” KQ chairman Michael Joseph said.
“The network activity from April to June was minimal due to travel restrictions and lockdowns, effectively reducing operations to almost nil in connecting our home market to key cities.”
The half-year loss is more than the annual losses that KQ has been posting for the last three years.
The airline’s comprehensive loss widened to 8.85 billion from Sh5.94 billion in 2018, triggering a 49 per cent
The national carrier, which is on the verge of being nationalised, had issued a profit warning in mid-December last year, saying its end-year loss will worsen by at least 25 per cent.