is the national airline of
Kenya in
East Africa , operating scheduled services throughout Africa, to Europe and Asia. Its hub is
Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO) in
Nairobi .
The airline was established in January 1977, after the breakup of the
East African Community caused the demise of East African Airways. It started operations on
4 February 1977 and was wholly owned by the Kenyan government until April 1996.
In 1986, ''Sessional Paper Number 1'' was published by
Kenya 's government, outlining the country's need for economic development and growth. The document stressed the government opinion that the airline would be better off if owned by private interests, thus resulting in the first attempt to privatize the airline. The government named Mr.
Philip Ndegwa as Chairman of the Board in 1991, with specific orders to privatize the airline. He heads a renewed company cabinet. In 1992, the ''Public Enterprise Reform'' paper was published, giving Kenya Airways priority among national companies in Kenya to be privatized.
In the fiscal year 1993 to 1994, the airline produced its first profit since the start of commercialization. Also in 1994, the
International Finance Corporation (IFC), was appointed to provide assistance in the privatization process. In 1995, Kenya Airways went through some important financial processes, including the restructuring of its debts and a master corporation agreement with
KLM . In 1996, shares were floated to the public, and the airline started trading on the
Nairobi Stock Exchange .
In April 2004 the company re-introduced Kenya Airways cargo as a brand and in July 2004, the company's domestic subsidiary
Flamingo Airlines was reabsorbed.
The airline is owned by Individual Kenyan shareholders (32.5%), KLM (26%), Kenyan government (23%), Kenyan institutional investors (15.7%), foreign investors (3.8%).
On
31 January 2000 the airline suffered its first fatal accident when an
Airbus A310 crashed after takeoff from
Abidjan ,
Côte D'Ivoire , killing 169 of the 179 people aboard (see
Kenya Airways Flight 431 ).
Kenya Airways has received three
Boeing 777-200ER aircraft, with the last delivery in June 2005. This has cost Kenya Airways in the region of $500 million.
Kenya Airways has also changed its livery. The four defining stripes running the length of the fuselage have been replaced by a slogan "Pride of Africa". The KA tail has also been replaced by a styled "K" encircled with a "Q" to evoke the "KQ" call letters for the airline.
In the 6 months ending
30 September 2005 , profits after tax rose 48% vs 2004-5 to Kshs 2.231 Billion (US$30 Million). Over 1.2 million passengers were carried.
In the full year results ending
31 March 2005 , profits after tax almost tripled over 2003-4 to Kshs 3.882 Billion (US$50 Million). Over 2 million passengers were carried.
In the 6 months ending
30 September 2004 , profit after tax was $19.5 million, compared to $4.5 million for the same period the previous year. This has been attributed to KTAP (Kenya Airways TurnAround Project) overhauling the airline's revenue management, cost structures and route and fleet planning (ref: Airliner World, March 2005).
In June 2005 it was announced that Kenya Airways would join the
Skyteam Alliance in 2006.
Kenya Airways has ordered six Boeing 787 Dreamliners and plans to replace its 767s with the Dreamliners, beginning with the delivery of two airplanes in 2010, and four in 2011.
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Kenya Airways announced that they will commence 3 per week flights to
Paris in July 2006. In addition, they will lease a new
Boeing 767 in July to service this sector.
Kenya Airways serves the following destinations (at October 2005):
- Africa scheduled destinations: Abidjan , Accra , Addis Ababa , Bamako , Bujumbura , Cairo , Cape Town , Dakar , Dar Es Salaam , Djibouti , Douala , Entebbe / Kampala , Freetown , Harare , Johannesburg , Khartoum , Kigali , Kinshasa , Lagos , Lilongwe , Lubumbashi , Lusaka , Mahe ( Seychelles ) , Maputo , Yaounde and Zanzibar .
The Kenya Airways fleet consists of the following aircraft (at June 2005):
In 2004 the airline took delivery of three
Boeing 767-300 Extended Range 221-seater aircraft and acquired two
Boeing 737-700 jets with blended winglets. Another two B767-300 were leased in February and March from
GECAS and the
Airbus A310 fleet retired.
Kenya Airways has announced the phasing out the
Boeing 737-200 fleet, and replacement with
Boeing 737-800 .
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