Kenya Airways takes off from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi. [File, Standard] Following recently unveiled half-year financial results for Kenya Airways (KQ), a familiar and perennial debate has re-emerged: Does Kenya truly require a national carrier? Some critics have gone so far as to call for its dissolution—despite the historic milestone it achieved just last year, posting its first net profit in a decade. They question how such a promising financial trajectory—marked by a net profit of Sh5.4 billion—could so swiftly reverse into a net loss. They ask, can this progress be trusted? Is it sustainable? But one must…
Author: By Allan Kilavuka
CEO Kenya Airways Allan Kilavuka address during KQ sponsorship of Safari Rally drivers ahead of world safari rally to be held in Naivasha, Kenya. June 9, 2021. [File, Standard] Africa is disproportionately represented statistically, particularly in terms of social and economic progress. These metrics depict Africa as significantly underserved. For example, the percentage of global airline passengers in 2023 was only 2.9 per cent in Africa compared to 26 per cent in Europe and 46 per cent in the Middle East. To contextualise this, Africa’s population is 18 per cent of the global population. The same can be said of the continent’s…