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Unending losses forces Kenya Airways to cut its losses and exit two West African markets

Kenya Airways plane mid air.
  • Starting from October 14, 2019, Kenya Airways will no longer be flying to Gabon and Benin. 
  • The Airline says the routes are no longer profitable to the firm which is already saddled with huge losses.
  • Kenya Airways is currently cleaning its house under a mountain of debt and has had three changes of chief executive in the past five years as it struggles to compete with regional rivals.

Unending losses in two West African markets Kenya’s National Carrier serves has forced the carrier to pull out and cut its losses.

Starting from October 14, 2019, Kenya Airways will no longer be flying to Gabon and Benin. The Airline says the routes are no longer profitable to the firm which is already saddled with huge losses.

As a result, travelers to the two destinations, beyond this date, will be rerouted or re-booked through KQ partner airlines.

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“We have made the necessary arrangements to continue serving our customers who had made forward bookings through our existing cooperation with partner airlines to ensure no disruption to their travel,” said Kenya Airways Chief Commercial Officer, Ursula Silling.

The decision to suspend flights to Gabon’s Libreville and Benin’s Cotonou is in line with the airline's strategy to align its network worldwide. Kenya Airways is currently cleaning its house under a mountaina mountain of debt a three changes of chief executive in the past five years as it struggles to compete with regional rivals.

Its 2019 first-half pretax loss more than double from a year earlier to Sh8.56 billion ($856 million).

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Meanwhile, Kenya’s international Airport, Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) is the 2nd fastest growing airport in the World in terms of cargo according to the World’s latest World Airport Traffic Report by Airports Council International (ACI).

JKIA was ranked 2nd in the ‘Fastest Growing Airports (Handing over 250,000 metric tons of air cargo)’ category, after handling over 342,000 metric tons of air cargo in 2018, a 25% growth from what was reported in 2017.

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