Kenya Airways (KQ) announced on Tuesday that it plans to raise at least Sh64.5 billion in additional capital to expand and modernize its fleet by the first quarter of next year.
The carrier, ranked among Africa’s top three airlines, reported a pretax loss of Sh12.17 billion ($94.34 million) for the first half of the year, a sharp decline from a profit of Sh634 million in the same period last year.
According to the airline, the loss was driven by reduced revenue and passenger numbers, following the grounding of three Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners for maintenance.
CEO Allan Kilavuka told investors that one of the grounded aircraft returned to service in July and assured that the airline is working to have its entire fleet operational by next year.
He stated that the airline aims to identify the source of the additional capital and secure shareholder approval within the first quarter of next year.
“We’ve set a minimum target of about half a billion dollars, which we believe is the least required. This will cover the fleet expansion plans we have,”said Allan .
The pretax profit recorded in the first half of 2024 marked the airline’s first profit in more than a decade.
According to Tuesday’s report, the carrier posted an operating loss of Sh6.2 billion for the first half of this year, compared to a profit of Sh1.3 billion in the same period of 2024. Revenue also dropped to Sh74.5 billion from Sh91.5 billion during the same period last year.
Kenya Airways entered insolvency in 2018 following an ambitious expansion strategy that left it burdened with debts amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars.
The airline has since relied on government financial support, including a Sh19.39 billion ($150 million) loan repayment made by the state in January, which had originally been borrowed from local commercial banks.
The company closed 2024 with a full-year pretax profit of Sh5.53 billion, a significant turnaround from a loss of Sh22.86 billion the previous year.
A major contributor to the 2024 performance was foreign exchange gains of Sh10.55 billion, compared to a loss of Sh15.04 billion in 2023, as the local currency appreciated by more than 20 percent against the dollar during that period.
