Ksh 60 Billion needed to revive Kenya Airways

Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich says preliminary indications show the government will need almost 500 to 600 million US dollars (Ksh 60 Billion) to revive National Carrier Kenya Airways that is currently facing financial crisis, due to poor performance.

This comes after the Kenya Airways management announced its losses amounting to over 29 billion shillings.

Speaking at a Mombasa hotel on Friday, the CS said already a private consultancy firm has been hired to investigate the financial crisis at Kenya Airways and prepare a report within 60 days.

Rotich said the exact amount which will be spent to revive the airline services, will be determined by the report that will be tabled by the consultancy firm.

Rotich noted that changes in the management of the airline will also depend on the report.

Kenya Airways reported a pre-tax full year loss of Ksh 29.7 billion for the year ended March 31st, 2015.

KQ further posted a Ksh 25.7 billion full year loss after tax, this being the biggest loss to be posted by a listed company in Kenya.

The airline Managing Director Mbuvi Ngunze attributed the loss to the slowdown in the tourism industry and the high costs of fuel.

The Airline made a loss of 4.8 billion shillings last year.

The airline has also attributed the loss to low ticket sales leading to cancellation of flights, flat revenue growth and increased overheads.

This has in turn cost the carrier more as they put up customers whose flights have been cancelled in hotels.