NAIROBI, June 26 (Xinhua) -- Kenya Airways is projected to lose between 42-53 billion shillings (400-500 million U.S. dollars) in revenue in 2020 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that has grounded commercial passenger flights, an official said on Friday.
Kenya Airways CEO Allan Kilavuka told a virtual annual general meeting in Nairobi that since January to date, the airline has probably lost in excess of 100 million U.S. dollars.
"When we estimate the end of the year we think we will lose 400 to 500 million dollars. Again we don't know how this looks like because it's unprecedented but that's what we are projecting," Kilavuka said.
He added that the national flag carrier has also suspended expansion into new routes for the next two years due to COVID-19 as the firm is not in a state to make new investments.
Michael Joseph, Kenya Airways chairman, said that the airline is keen to resume commercial flights in order to mitigate losses.
Joseph urged the government to allow passenger flights to commence as soon as possible so that they can start earning revenue and bring tourists to Kenya.
The chairman noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has also affected the process of nationalizing the airline by at least two months.
"It is a complex process because we also need to find a way to deal with the minority shareholders," Joseph said. Enditem
