Kenya Airways (KQ), grounded for the past three months by the coronavirus pandemic, will resume domestic flights in “the next couple of days,” President Uhuru Kenyatta said on Friday.
The return to in-country service coincides with the lifting of Kenya’s lockdown on travel between counties, Mr Kenyatta noted.
The government will soon set a date for KQ to resume flying internationally, the president added.
“We’re doing everything we can to make sure we are back in the skies,” Mr Kenyatta said during a video conference sponsored by the Washington-based Corporate Council on Africa.
“We’re eager to open up, but we have to make sure we all stay safe.”
The president’s announcement came on the same day that KQ chief executive Allan Kilavuka revealed that the airline has lost an estimated Sh10 billion so far this year due to the pandemic and related lockdowns.
Losses could approach Sh50 billion by the end of 2020, Mr Kilavuka added.
KQ had been struggling financially long before the coronavirus emerged.
It lost about Sh12 billion in 2019, compared to Sh7.1 billion the previous year.
By KEVIN J. KELLEY
Source: Kenyan Free Press
