Kenya Airways grows Africa passenger numbers by 15 per cent
Kenya’s national carrier Kenya Airways has recorded a growth in passenger numbers across West, Central and North America attaining its African target in the period ended June 2016.
In West Africa, the passenger numbers grew at 28 per cent to stand at 85,079 while in Central Africa a 20 per cent jump saw the passenger numbers stand at 44,887. Though a marginal two per cent was recorded in the North Africa routes the airline still managed to hit its target netting 48, 628 passengers.
Overall the airline increased its capacity on African routes by 15 per cent.
KQ as the airline is identified by its international code, attributes the increase to recommencement of flights to West Africa after an interruption last year caused by the Ebola epidemic which affected several West African countries.
During the period, the Airline disposed the older B777s & adopted smaller & productive fleet.
In a statement, the Airline said “The African market compared positively with prior year with Western Africa reporting the highest increase at 15 percent due to resumption of flights after the Ebola epidemic, coupled with the reintroduction of flights into Bangui.
Further the increase in frequency in Djibouti via Addis Ababa represented an increase of 9 percent in the Northern African region”
Despite reduced capacity, KQ increased the seats flown during the period by 1.6 per cent to 1.58 million due to efficient use of aircrafts. In the first quarter of this year, the airline reviewed its network in order to improve its connectivity across Africa through its Nairobi hub.
KQ said it will continue to implement its ‘Operation Pride’ turnaround strategy with an objective of returning to profitability.
Overall, passenger numbers grew slightly by 0.6 percent to 894,240 passengers during the period, There was a 6 percent and 7 percent decline in passengers for Far East and Europe respectively. Cabin factor improved to 66.3 percent from 65.2 percent during the period.
