Aircraft operated by Kenya Airways parked at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Kenya’s capital Nairobi. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP Kenya Airways last year underwent a series of capital and debt restructuring that elevated taxpayers to the biggest shareholders of the financially troubled carrier.
IATA also forecasts that global aviation industry will lose $29 billion worth of passenger revenues in 2020, of which $40 million will be linked to African airlines.
Kenyan taxpayers are set to feel the full weight of owning a bigger stake of the national carrier, as the airline reported a $130 million (Ksh13 billion) full-year loss at a time when it is seeking a government bailout to sail through the Covid-19 pandemic.
Kenya Airways last year underwent a series of capital and debt restructuring that elevated taxpayers to the biggest shareholders of the financially troubled carrier.
The Treasury last year extended a $50 million bailout to the airline, and is currently evaluating another $70 million funding request to help the carrier cope with revenue loss during the coronavirus pandemic, which has disrupted air travel across the globe.
“As you know we have been grounded for nearly three months now and during that time we have maintained all 38 aircrafts whether flying or not flying, we have to pay our leases, we have to pay the insurance costs, and we have a number of costs that don’t go away whether you are flying or not flying. In addition, we still have to pay salaries and so we have asked for money from the government and we are still waiting to hear about that,” said the Kenya Airways chairman Michael Joseph at a press briefing this week.
DE-LISTING FROM NSE
The airline has run short of cash to finance its operations including maintenance of aircrafts, payment of leases and employee salaries.
KQ is 48.9 per cent owned by the government and a group of 10 local banks that hold 38.1 per cent of its shares.
Other shareholders include KLM Royal Dutch Airline (7.8 per cent), employees (2.4 per cent) and other shareholders at 2.8 per cent.
But the airline is set to be delisted from the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), after parliament last year approved its takeover by the State.The carrier, which is grappling with a negative working capital of Ksh42.15 billion, saw its net loss for 2019 widen to Ksh12.97 billion ($129.7 million) from Ksh7.58 billion($75.8 million) in […]
