KENYA AIRWAYS RELEASES Q4 RESULTS
While everyone is now waiting for the announcement of the results of the share rights issue by Kenya Airways and their financial advisory team, due to be made public on the 30th May, the airline has yesterday released their financial results for the fourth quarter of their financial year.
Notably did the main target area for expansion over the next decade under Project Mawingu, the Middle and Far East and India, record a capacity growth of 3.6 percent in terms of capacity, while North Africa, mainly due to the introduction of the second daily flight to South Sudans capital Juba, grew by 4.2 percent.
The picture is more mixed in Eastern Africa, where overall the capacity reduced due to the combination of Kigali and Bujumbura flights.
Domestic flight capacity reduced in particular on the Mombasa route where capacity optimization reduced the number of seats on the market while Kisumu in particular, now served up to 25 times a week, showed an increase of over 20 percent. Here passenger numbers continue to grow by 4.2 percent with a cabin load factor of 73.5 percent, a rise by 9.7 percent year by year and a clear indication that Kenya Airways return to the domestic market, covering Mombasa, Malindi and Kisumu out of Nairobi in a new market strategy has paid off handsomely. The new flights to Eldoret are expected to continue that trend on the domestic market.
Overall passenger numbers, compared to 2011, grew by 5.2 percent to 832.366 for the quarter, with the Southern African region leading in growth by over 20 percent, with an equally improved cabin load factor across the network of 68.1 versus 66.7 last year.
Cargo tonnage sold also rose by 4.1 percent to 14.909 tons for the quarter on the back of higher demand and renewed focus on the cargo business, which will see a dedicated fleet of freighters come on line under the Project Mawingu is expected to accelerate this trend in coming years, as Kenya Airways is set to join Africas big league on air cargo uplift, now that Nairobi has become Africas largest cargo hub. The following graph, courtesy of KQs corporate communications department, shows which way the fleet planning for the cargo division is going, covering both long haul and regional / continental routes with a mix of wide body and narrow body cargo aircraft.
Watch this space for the most up to date information on East African aviation developments.
