EXPANDING FLEET
Kenya Airways seeks 10 Boeing 737 Max aircraft
Nairobi — Kenya Airways has revived plans to expand its network by proposing to buy as many as 10 Boeing 737 Max aircraft as part of a five-year strategy. The move follows three consecutive years of losses caused by a poorly executed expansion strategy and fuel-hedging contracts that saw it miss out on rock-bottom oil prices. The losses forced the company into austerity measures that included job cuts, a 15% fleet reduction and abandoning a valuable landing slot at London’s Heathrow airport. "We’ve put out a proposal for 10 planes at the moment," chief operations officer Jan de Vegt said on Wednesday. "We will then have to take two to three years at least to introduce them. You have to train pilots." Part-owned by Air France-KLM, Africa’s third-biggest carrier has 40 aircraft, with which it services mainly routes on the continent. That includes two Boeing 787 Dreamliners and three Boeing 777-300 aircraft that are sub-leased to Oman Air Transport and Turkish Airlines, respectively. K...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.