Kenya Airways (KQ) has temporarily halted its cargo flights due to stiff competition from rival airlines offering freight services.
Business Daily reports that at the moment, there are close to 12 cargo airlines operating from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) to different destinations in the world. Some of these include Qatar Airways, Ethiopian Airlines, Emirate Cargo, Lufthansa, Martinair, Etihad, British Airways, and KLM.
As a result, the weekly capacity at the airport is now 1,800 tonnes against cargo volumes of 1,500 tonnes, meaning the supply has surpassed the demand. According to KQ CEO, Allan Kilavuka, increased capacity has resulted in a decrease in freight charges. This means that it could not be profitable when KQ operates long haul cargo flights using the passenger aircraft.
The increased capacity has pushed down the cost of freight to KSh236 per kilo from a high of KSh525 for the same quantity when the freight capacity was minimal.
In April, KQ made a total of KSh214 million in revenues from its cargo business, after making 53 cargo flights.
Meanwhile, the airline will resume its passenger flights on 8th June 2020, even as the CEO warns that neutralizing the middle seat in aircraft will result in fewer seats and subsequently lead to higher cost of air tickets by between 50% and 100%.
On 26th May, the airline reported a net loss of KSh12.98 billion in 2019, up from KSh7.56 billion recorded in 2018. Its revenues in 2019 increased by 12.4% to KSh128.32 billion from KSh114.19 billion in 2018, attributed mainly due to the expansion of the Kenya Airways network.
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