Kenya Airways (KA), whose passenger trade was near 100 percent capacity in December last year then plunged to less than half in 14 days following violent civil unrest, has steadied out and increased its capacity with the introduction of a fourth Boeing 777.

Cargo traffic has been unaffected and remains at 100 percent capacity.

The post-election violence was a double whammy for one of Africa’s most successful airlines, which also suffered a Boeing 737-800 crash in Cameroon in May last year, killing all 114 people on board, including 19 South Africans.

"You can’t have a plane crash and a civil war in 12 months without it affecting the company, it has taken months to stabilise both the airline and the environment it operates in," says KA marketing manager Glenn Lewington.

Marketing efforts are now focused on building up the Mombasa leisure route, while the business Johannesburg-Nairobi route remains unscathed. Some 85 percent of KA clients from SA are business passengers, and of that 70 percent use Nairobi as a connecting hub. Key routes — from a total of 44 — include Cameroon (telecommunications staff), Mali (mining companies) and Senegal; KA is also one of the few airlines flying to Monrovia.

"There are few alternatives to KA in West Africa, so after the unrest those business travelers stayed with the airline," says Lewington. "SA passengers switched for some time then returned, drawn by our emphasis on service and the high standard of the regularly updated fleet."

KA, established over 30 years ago as a state carrier, has run profitably for the past 10 years since it listed on the Kenyan and Tanzanian stock exchanges. The main shareholders are the KLM/Air France alliance (27 percent) and the Kenyan government (20 percent) although the state does not involve itself in day-to-day operations.

“We are successful because we are accountable to our shareholders and our aircraft don’t sit on the ground,” says Lewington. "Service is key – we have established a central training office in Nairobi – and our fleet is regularly updated.

“Leisure travellers enjoy the spinoff of the high standards demanded by our discerning business travellers.”

KA has hiked fares US$30 across the board because of rising fuel prices and other factors, but has retained all 3600 staff.

AFP