Talks of nationalization continue as Kenya Airways posts a historic loss of over $330 million for the fiscal year of 2020. Passenger numbers dropped by close to two-thirds, and the share loss jumped by as much. Meanwhile, a secret $91 million government bailout is waiting in the wings.

Tripling losses from 2019

Apart from the rare exception, air operator financial results coming in for the full fiscal year of 2020 are severely in the red. Many account for historical losses. Forty-four-year-old Kenya Airways announced today that its pretax losses for 2020 amounted to 36.57 billion shillings ($333.2 million) - close to triple the sum from the previous year.

According to The Star Kenya, the airline's Chief Executive Officer Allan Kilavuka said that passenger numbers dropped from 5.2 million in 2019 to 1.8 million during the year currently under review.

Meanwhile, according to Business Daily Africa, Kenya Airways' Chairman, Michael Joseph, confirmed that things are bound to remain dire for the near future.

“The COVID-19 global outbreak in 2020 was beyond anyone’s prediction, and its impact on the industry is expected to continue affecting air travel demand for the next two to three years,” Mr Joseph said.

The carrier's basic loss per share went from 2.23 shillings ($0.020)in the previous year to 6.22 shillings ($0.057) in 2020.

Simple Flying has sought Kenya Airways for a comment but was yet to receive a response at the time of publication.

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Government in talks to buy minor stakeholders out

In December, KQ and Air France-KLM announced that they would be terminating their joint venture. Already suspended due to the ongoing crisis, the agreement will now officially end on September 1st this year. The Group still owns 7.8% of Kenya Airways. The remainder of the airline is divided, with 48.9% belonging to the Kenyan government, 38.1% to the KQ Lenders Company, and the rest to private shareholders.

Several voices have long called for the airline's privatization, which the country's Treasurer has also said it would favor as a long-term plan. However, in February, it was revealed that Kenya's Treasury had approved a further Sh10 billion (approx. $91 million) in what Business Daily referred to as a 'secret bailout'. The airline first sought state-aid (as a result of the COVID-19 crisis) in March last year, having halted all flights on March 22nd after orders from the government.

Leases and conversions

Even before COVID, the airline was struggling severely. With a loss of $258 million in 2106, the carrier came to the brink of bankruptcy due to a tremendous amount of debt, and lessors were threatening to repossess their aircraft. According to data from Planespotters.net, KQ only owns a few of its 39 aircraft outright - four Boeing 737s and seven of its nine 787 Dreamliners.

The SkyTeam alliance member also saw cargo volumes drop due to canceled flights leading to reduced belly space. Hoping to profit more from the airfreight demand growing due to such conditions, the airline, a little late on the ball compared to other 'preighter' operators, has converted one of its Boeing 787 Dreamliners to a temporary cargo-carrier.

Do you think KQ is due for nationalization before long? Tell us why or why not in the comments.