Kenya Airways loss widens compared to last year

By Andrew Wasike

NAIROBI, Kenya (AA) – Kenya Airways, the country’s flag carrier, on Thursday announced a record loss of 26.2 billion Kenya shillings (roughly $258 million), compared to the 25.7 billion lost last year.

In 2015, the sub-Saharan Africa’s third largest airline was forced to sell some of its airplanes and to seek a soft loan to continue its operations.

The 26.2 billion Kenya shillings loss was recorded for the financial year that ended in March 2016.

Releasing the results on Thursday, the airline’s chief executive officer, Mbuvi Ngunze, said the airline was facing turbulent times but had put up measures to bring back the airline back to where it was in the profit zone.

The airline announced its operating losses have reduced from 16.3 billion to 4.1 billion Kenya shillings. The company’s net worth is now at $331.1 million.

In March 2016, the airline announced it would fire around 600 workers to cut costs.