KENYA AIRWAYS

'Kenya Airways', the national airline of Kenya, based in Nairobi, Africa, started operations on 4 February 1977 It operates scheduled services throughout Africa and to Europe and the Indian subcontinent, with its main base at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi.^[1] The airline, the largest in Kenya, operates more transcontinental flights than any other African airline.^[2][3] Moi International Airport in Mombasa serves as a focus city.

Contents

History

Destinations

Fleet

Incidents and accidents

References

External links

History

The airline was established in February 1977, after the breakup of the East African Community and the consequent demise of East African Airways^[4] 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 privatize the airline. The government named Mr. Philip Ndegwa as Chairman of the Board in 1991, with specific orders to privatize 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 went through some important financial processes, including the restructuring of its debts and a master corporation agreement with KLM that bought 26% of the shares in Kenya Airways and becames 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 crosslisted 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 reabsorbed.


In 2005 Kenya Airways changed its livery. The four stripes running the length of the fuselage have been replaced by a slogan "Pride of Africa". The KA tail has also been replaced by a styled "K" encircled with a "Q" to evoke the "KQ" call letters for the airline.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.^[5]
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. ^[6]
In March 2006 Kenya Airways has won the 'African Airline of the Year' Award for 2005, for the fifth time in seven years.^[7]
The passenger carryings in the fiscal year 2006 (April 2006 - March 2007) were at a record of 2.6 millions.^[8]
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.^[9]
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%).^[10] It has 2,408 employees (at March 2007). Kenya Airways also owns 49% of Precision Air in Tanzania.

Artist's rendering of the Kenya Airways Boeing 787, scheduled for delivery in 2010

Destinations

:''For a complete list of destinations, see: Kenya Airways destinations''
'Kenya Airways flies:'

★ 56 times per week to Mombasa ^[11]

★ 28 times per week to Entebbe (Kampala)

★ 18 times per week to Amsterdam(together with KLM)

★ 10 times per week to London

★ 10 times per week to Dubai ^[12]

★

★ 7 times per week to Zanzibar ^[13]

★ 6 times per week to Lagos

★ 5 times per week to Kinshasa ^[14]

★ 4 times per week to Bamako

★ 3 times per week to Paris

★ 3 times per week to Lubumbashi

★ 3 times per week to Bangkok ^[15]

★ 2 times per week to Istanbul ^[16]
Kenya Airways codeshares with KLM and Air France, giving passengers access to several European destinations, including Glasgow, Athens, Rome, Zurich, Manchester, Madrid, Copenhagen, Berlin, Frankfurt and Barcelona.

Fleet

The Kenya Airways fleet consists of the following aircraft as of September 5 2007:^[17][18][19]

'Kenya Airways Fleet'

Aircraft	Total	Passengers (Premier World/Economy)	Notes
Boeing 737-300	4	116 (16/100)	Short haul regional routes
Boeing 737-700	4	116 (16/100)	Short haul regional routes
Boeing 737-800	2 (1 order)	145 (16/129)	Short haul regional routes(One aircraft was lost in a crash on May 5th 2007)
Boeing 767-300ER	6	216 (20/196)	Long haul international and intercontinental routes
Boeing 777-200ER	4	322 (28/294)	Long haul intercontinental routes
Boeing 787-8	(9 orders) (4 options)[20]	263	Long haul international and intercontinental routes
Embraer 170LR	1 (2 orders[21])	72	First entry into service July 20 2007, an additional one planned for September 2007 GECAS Lease
Saab 340B	2	34	Short haul routes within Kenya

★ Kenya Airways average fleet age is 7.8 years in August 2007 ^[22].

★ 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.

★ Kenya Airways has announced the phasing out the Boeing 737-200 fleet, and replacement with Boeing 737-800.^[23] All three Boeing 737-800 have been deliverd from Singapore Aircraft Leasing Enterprise (SALE) ^[24]

★ 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 ^[25].

Incidents and accidents

★ On 31 January 2000 the airline suffered its first fatal accident when an Airbus A310 crashed after takeoff from Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, killing 169 of the 179 people aboard (see Flight 431). The plane took off and dropped into the Atlantic Ocean, killing 169 people. There were 10 survivors, one of whom swam to shore.[1]

★ On 5 May 2007 Kenya Airways Flight KQ 507, a Boeing 737-800, crashed 5.4 km southeast of the Douala airport in a mangrove swamp[2], after taking off from there to 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

★ AeroTransport Data Bank
1. Directory: World Airlines
2. http://www.luchtzak.be/article11260.html
3. http://www.myafricatoday.com/kenya-airways-signed-an-order-of-787-8-dreamliners-with-boeing/566
4. Kenya Airways: ''History''
5. Airliner World, March 2005
6. Business in Africa
7. Kenya Airways: ''Kenya Airways Wins African Aviation Award'' March 14, 2006
8. Kenya Airways: ''2006/07 Year end results'' March 31, 2007
9. Kenya Airways: ''SkyTeam strengthens global network with addition of three Associate Airlines'' September 4, 2007
10. Kenya Airways: ''Kenya Airways Shareholder Profile'' March 31, 2006
11. http://www.farecompare.com/flights/Nairobi-NBO/city.html
12. http://travelvideo.tv/news/more.php?id=A1521_0_1_0_M
13. http://www.farecompare.com/flights/Kenya_Airways-KQ/airline.html
14. Kenya Airways: ''Democratic Republic of Congo - Overview ''
15. http://www.nomadtours.co.za/article_2006-4-27_2.html
16. http://www.travelafricamag.com/content/view/1228/137/
17. Kenya Airways: ''2006/07 Financial End Year Investor Briefing Presentation'' March 31, 2007
18. Kenya Airways: ''Kenya Airways to Acquire New Aircraft'' August 27, 2007
19. Kenya Airways: ''Kenya Airways receives the first Embraer 170 LR plane'' July 20, 2007
20. Boeing: ''787 news'' December 17, 2006
21. Kenya Airways: ''Kenya Airways Orders 3 Embraer Regional Jets'' November 27, 2006
22. Kenya Airways Fleet Age
23. Boeing 737-200 replacements
24. Airliner World January 2007
25.

★ 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 aircraftAirliner World, February 2007

External links

★ Official site

★ Proile and information

★ Jet Fleet

★ Pictures

★ Accidents