Kenya Airways

Infobox Airline
airline = Kenya Airways

logo_size = 200
fleet_size = 26 (+11 orders, 5 options)
destinations = 42
IATA = KQ
ICAO = KQA
callsign = KENYA
parent =
company_slogan = "The Pride of Africa"
founded = 1977
headquarters = Nairobi, Kenya
key_people = Titus Naikuni (CEO)
Neil Canty (CFO)
Evanson Mwaniki (Chairman)
hubs = Jomo Kenyatta International Airport
focus_cities = Moi International Airport
frequent_flyer = Flying Blue
lounge = KLM Crown Lounge
alliance = SkyTeam (associate)
website = http://www.kenya-airways.com

Kenya Airways is the flag carrier airline of Kenya, based in Nairobi. It started operations on 4 February, 1977, and operates scheduled services throughout Africa and to Europe and the Indian subcontinent, with its main base at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi.cite news | title= Directory: World Airlines | work= Flight International | page= 100 | date= 2007-04-03] Moi International Airport in Mombasa serves as a focus city.Fact|date=June 2007

History

The airline was established in February 1977, after the break-up of the East African Community and the consequent demise of East African Airways [Kenya Airways: " [http://www.kenya-airways.com/kqdispinfo.aspx?colm=69 History] "] and was wholly owned by the Kenyan government until April 1996.

In 1986, "Sessional Paper Number 1" was published by Kenya's government, outlining the country's need for economic development and growth. The document stressed the government opinion that the airline would be better off if owned by private interests, thus resulting in the first attempt to privatise the airline. The government named Mr Philip Ndegwa as Chairman of the Board in 1991, with specific orders to privatise the airline. He heads a renewed company cabinet. In 1992, the "Public Enterprise Reform" paper was published, giving Kenya Airways priority among national companies in Kenya to be privatized.

In the fiscal year 1993 to 1994, the airline produced its first profit since the start of commercialization. Also, in 1994, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), was appointed to provide assistance in the privatization process. In 1995, Kenya Airways restructured its debts and a made a master corporation agreement with KLM that bought 26% of the shares in Kenya Airways and became the largest single shareholder. In 1996, shares were floated to the public, and the airline started trading on the Nairobi Stock Exchange. In October 2004, the company cross-listed its shares at the Dar-es-Salaam Stock Exchange. In April 2004, the company re-introduced Kenya Airways Cargo as a brand and in July 2004, the company's domestic subsidiary Flamingo Airlines was re-absorbed.

In 2005, Kenya Airways changed its livery. The four stripes running the length of the fuselage were replaced by the slogan "Pride of Africa". The KA tail logo was replaced by a styled "K" encircled with a "Q" to evoke the "KQ" call letters for the airline. In the 6 months ending 30 September 2005, profits after tax rose 48% vs 2004-5 to Kshs 2.231 Billion (US$30 Million) and over 1.2 million passengers were carried.

In the 6 months ending 30 September 2004, profit after tax was $19.5 million, compared to $4.5 million for the same period the previous year. This has been attributed to KTAP (Kenya Airways TurnAround Project) overhauling the airline's revenue management, cost structures and route and fleet planning. [Airliner World, March 2005]

In the full-year results ending 31 March, 2005, profits after tax almost tripled over 2003-4 to Kshs 3.882 Billion (US$50 Million) and over 2 million passengers were carried.

Kenya Airways announced record profit growth for 2005-06. After-tax profits increased from 3.88 billion Kenya shillings (about $54 million USD) to 4.83 billion shillings. [ [http://www.businessinafrica.net/news/east_africa/464202.htm Business in Africa] ]

In March 2006, Kenya Airways won the 'African Airline of the Year' Award for 2005, for the fifth time in seven years. [Kenya Airways: " [http://www.kenya-airways.com/kqdispinfo.aspx?cname=Press_Releases&id=392 Kenya Airways Wins African Aviation Award] " March 14, 2006]

Passenger numbers in the fiscal year 2006 (April 2006ndash March 2007) were a record 2.6 million. [Kenya Airways: " [http://www.kenya-airways.com/kq2/uploadedFiles/results%20200607.pdf 2006/07 Year end results] " March 31, 2007]

On September 4, 2007, SkyTeam, the second-largest airline alliance in the world, welcomed Kenya Airways as one of the first official SkyTeam Associate Airlines. [Kenya Airways: " [http://www.kenya-airways.com/kqdispinfo.aspx?cname=Press_Releases&id=882 SkyTeam strengthens global network with addition of three Associate Airlines] " September 4, 2007]

The airline is owned by individual Kenyan shareholders (30.94%), KLM (now Air France-KLM) (26%), Kenyan government (23%), Kenyan institutional investors (14.2%), foreign institutional investors (4.47%) and individual foreign investors (1.39%). [Kenya Airways: " [http://www.kenya-airways.com/kqdispinfo.aspx?colm=105&cname=Investor_informationShareholder_Profile Kenya Airways Shareholder Profile] " March 31, 2006] It has 2,408 employees (at March 2007). Kenya Airways also owns 49% of Precision Air in Tanzania.

Destinations

:"For a complete list of destinations, see: Kenya Airways destinations"

Kenya Airways flies:
* 56 times per week to Mombasa [ [http://www.farecompare.com/flights/Nairobi-NBO/city.html Flights to Nairobi, Kenyandash City Air Travel Fact Sheet ] ]
* 28 times per week to Entebbe (Kampala)
* 14 times per week to Amsterdam (together with KLM)
* 10 times per week to London
* 10 times per week to Dubai [ [http://travelvideo.tv/news/more.php?id=A1521_0_1_0_M Travel Video Television News ] ]
* 7 times per week to Mumbai
* 7 times per week to Accra
* 7 times per week to Zanzibar [ [http://www.farecompare.com/flights/Kenya_Airways-KQ/airline.html Airline Fact Sheet: Kenya Airwaysndash Route Mapndash Hubsndash Flight Information ] ]
* 7 times per week to Guangzhou
* 6 times per week to Lagos
* 5 times per week to Kinshasa Kenya Airways: " [http://www.kenya-airways.com/kqdispinfo.aspx?colm=26 Democratic Republic of Congondash Overview ] "]
* 3 times per week to Hong Kong (via Bangkok)
* 4 times per week to Bamako
* 3 times per week to Paris
* 3 times per week to Lubumbashi
* 3 times per week to Bangkok [http://www.nomadtours.co.za/article_2006-4-27_2.html]
* 2 times per week to Istanbul [ [http://www.travelafricamag.com/content/view/1228/137/ Airwavesndash Airline Newsndash Travel Africa Magazine ] ]

Kenya Airways codeshares with KLM and Air France, giving passengers access to European destinations, including Glasgow, Athens, Rome, Zurich, Manchester, Madrid, Copenhagen, Berlin, Frankfurt and Barcelona. Service to Seoul is codesharing with Korean Air

Fleet

The Kenya Airways fleet consists of the following aircraft as at September 5, 2007: [Kenya Airways: " [http://www.kenya-airways.com/uploadedFiles/20062007FullYearInvestorsPresentation.pdf 2006/07 Financial End Year Investor Briefing Presentation] " March 31, 2007] Kenya Airways: " [http://www.kenya-airways.com/kqdispinfo.aspx?cname=Press_Releases&id=866 Kenya Airways to Acquire New Aircraft] " August 27, 2007] Kenya Airways: " [http://www.kenya-airways.com/kqdispinfo.aspx?id=864 Kenya Airways receives the first Embraer 170 LR plane] " July 20, 2007]

*Kenya Airways average fleet age is 7.8 years in August 2007 [ [http://www.airfleets.net/ageflotte/Kenya%20Airways.htm Kenya Airways Fleet Age] ] .

*In 2004, the airline took delivery of three Boeing 767-300 Extended Range 221-seater aircraft and acquired two Boeing 737-700 jets with blended winglets. Another two B767-300 were leased in February and March from GECAS and the Airbus A310 fleet retired. In 2005, Kenya Airways ordered three Boeing 777-200ER aircraft, with the last delivery in February 2007, at a cost of ~$500 million.Fact|date=June 2007
*Kenya Airways has announced the phasing out the Boeing 737-200 fleet, and replacement with Boeing 737-800. [ [http://yahoo.reuters.com/financeQuoteCompanyNewsArticle.jhtml?duid=mtfh55919_2005-08-12_15-08-44_l12418736_newsml Boeing 737-200 replacements] ] All three Boeing 737-800 have been delivered from Singapore Aircraft Leasing Enterprise (SALE) [Airliner World January 2007]
*In 2006, Kenya Airways ordered six Boeing 787 Dreamliners and plans to replace its Boeing 767s with the Dreamliners, beginning with the delivery of two aircraft in 2010, and four in 2011
*The airline has agreed to lease three 72-passenger Embraer E-170 aircraft from GE Commercial Aviation Services from May/June 2007 and June 2008. They will be used on regional/domestic routes replacing the Saab 340 aircraft [Airliner World, February 2007] .

Incidents and accidents

*On 31 January 2000 the airline suffered its first fatal accident when an Airbus A310 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean after takeoff from Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, killing 169 of the 179 people on board (see Kenya Airways Flight 431). One of the ten survivors swam to shore. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/6627485.stm]

*On 5 May, 2007, Kenya Airways Flight 507, a Boeing 737-800, crashed 5.4 kilometres southeast of Douala International Airport in a mangrove swamp [http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2007/05/15/213845/investigators-trawl-swamps-for-clues-on-kenya-737-crash.html] , after taking off for Nairobi. The flight originated in Abidjan, with a stopover in Douala to pick up passengers. The plane was carrying 105 passengers from 26 countries and 9 crew members. All perished in the incident. Rescue efforts were hampered by the difficult terrain of the crash site.

References

External links

* [http://www.kenya-airways.com Official site]
* [http://aviation-safety.net/database/operator/airline.php?var=5885 Accidents]

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