Sky News Network
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • National
  • Culture
  • Science & Technology
  • Opinion
  • Sports
No Result
View All Result
Sky News Network
No Result
View All Result
Home Travel

Passenger traffic at Kenyan airports drops by more than 50%

Kenya Airways losses tripple

skynewsbyskynews
March 24, 2021
in Travel
0
Passenger traffic at Kenyan airports drops by more than 50%
0
SHARES
133
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterWhatsapp

Passengers numbers going through Kenyan airports have drastically reduce following strict COVID 19 measures.

As a consequence Kenya Airways (KQ) net loss has nearly tripled to ksh36.2 billion, the worst ever in the history of the airline, on account of Covid-19 disruptions that led to a sharp decline in passenger numbers.

The loss, for the financial year ended December 2020, is 2.8 times more than the ksh12.98 billion net loss it had posted a year earlier, and now deals a major blow to the recovery efforts of the national carrier.

The airline says that passenger revenue dropped by 67.5 per cent to ksh33.7 billion as passenger numbers reduced by 65.7 per cent to 1.8 million.

Passenger numbers at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) declined by 72 percent last year as cargo recorded a marginal drop of three percent in the year to February.

The Kenya Aiports Authority (KAA) said the cargo counter continued to perform well thanks mainly to enhanced demand for fresh produce and other related supplies as well as transportation of Covid-19 pandemic associated goods.

Data from the KAA indicates that the passenger numbers at JKIA dropped from 5.8 million in the previous year to 1.6 million last year as the aviation sector continues to reel from the effects of Covid-19.

The industry data showed aircraft movement in review period dropped by 53 percent from 80,580 previously to 37,895 with cargo declining to 253.1 million kilos from 245 million. However, the month of February 2021 showed signs of recovery with a 5.2 percent growth compared with the same period in the previous year.

“The amount of cargo handled in February increased by 5.2 percent to stand at 35,124,689 kilos recorded over the period under review,” said the report from KAA.

Moi International Airport recorded a 60 percent decline on passenger numbers, highlighting the impact of Covid-19 on tourism at the Kenya’s coastal city.

The decreased passenger numbers could be attributed to a slowdown in the number of visitors to the region on account of Covid-19, which saw Kenya impose a lockdown and ban international flights to curb the spread of the virus.

Eldoret International Airport recorded a 43.4 percent decline in number of passengers with the cargo volumes dipping by 12 percent.

This comes at a time when global air cargo demand has returned to pre-Covid levels in January, showing recovery for the first time since the outbreak of the pandemic a year ago. The upturn in performance was a relief to airlines that have been struggling for the last one year.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said January demand also showed strong month-to-month growth over December 2020 levels.

Total demand in January 2021 (measured in revenue passenger kilometres or RPKs) was down 72.0percent compared to January 2019. That was worse than the 69.7percent year-over-year decline recorded in December 2020.

Total domestic demand was down 47.4 percent versus pre-crisis (January 2019) levels. In December it was down 42.9 percent on the previous year.

International passenger demand in January was 85.6 percent below January 2019, a further drop compared to the 85.3 percent year-to-year decline recorded in December.

IATA says 2021 started off worse than 2020 ended and that even as vaccination programmes gather pace, new Covid-19 variants are leading governments to increase travel restrictions with the uncertainty around how long these restrictions will last having an impact on future travel.

IATA has urged governments to implement testing as an alternative to quarantine measures when re-opening their economies.

“Mandatory quarantine measures stop people from travelling. We understand that governments’ priority is on protecting the well–being of their citizens. Quarantine destroys livelihoods. Testing is an alternative method that will also save travel and tourism jobs,” said IATA previously.

In East Africa, Kenya has imposed a 14-day quarantine for visitors coming in from the countries that have not been listed in the safe list. IATA had projected that the recovery of airline would happen in the next three years when economies are projected to have been fully opened.

 

Tags: AviationKenya AirwaysKenyatta Airporttravel
Plugin Install : Subscribe Push Notification need OneSignal plugin to be installed.
skynews

skynews

Related Posts

A bumpy start for Uganda Airlines but there is a silver lining
Travel

African Airlines begin to recover

April 12, 2022
Air Tanzania in tight competition with Kenya Airways
Travel

Air Tanzania in tight competition with Kenya Airways

October 14, 2021
Ethiopian Airlines maintains lead in Africa
Travel

Ethiopian Airlines maintains lead in Africa

October 1, 2021

Popular Stories

  • How corruption has eaten up Uganda’s water corporation

    How corruption has eaten up Uganda’s water corporation

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Uganda’s water boss lined up for sacking as wife shames minister in party elections

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • NWSC Board probes Silver Mugisha as Museveni unleashes intelligence on water ministry

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Assassinations: who is spilling blood in Uganda, and why?

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • How Ugandan brokers sealed Museveni, Ruto deal throwing Kenyatta, Odinga into chaos

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Archives

About Us

We are the leading online news publication in Uganda with authentic and reliable news.

LEARN MORE »

Recent News

  • Prince Charles represents Queen at Commonwealth meeting in Rwanda June 22, 2022
  • New method can stop cyberattacks in less than a second June 21, 2022
  • We all have to work together in DRC, Museveni tells EAC colleagues June 21, 2022

Quick Links

  • About us
  • Advertise
  • Careers
  • Contact Us

Address

UJA House, Bombo Rd,

Keti Falawo Zone, Kawempe Division

Kampala – Uganda

© 2020 – Sky News Network

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Politics
  • News
  • Business
  • National
  • Sports
  • Science & Technology
  • Agriculture & African Medicine
  • Travel
  • Opinion

© 2020 Sky News Uganda

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.