Kenya Airways cargo volume up 9 pct in Oct -Dec

Kenya Airways said on Friday its cargo business grew by 9 percent and the number of passengers shuttled within Africa rose by a similar margin in the third quarter of its financial year.

Ranked among the leading carriers in Africa, the airline, known locally as KQ after its flight code, has expanded its network on the continent to tap an under-served market.

“The cargo business seems to be making some recovery from the unprecedented declines witnessed in the previous quarters to record a 9 percent growth from prior year’s level of 14,006 tonnes,” the airline said in a statement.

Passenger volumes to Europe remained the same at about 97,300, KQ said, but fell by about 5 percent within Kenya due to the suspension of some routes. Passengers to other African cities, however, increased by 9 percent to about 422,000.

The carrier’s fortunes turned around during the first half ended September when it swung back into profit with 1.23 billion shillings of pretax profit.

Kenya Airways posted its first annual loss since privatisation in the year ended March, due to fuel hedge bets that didn’t pay off.

Reuters.