NAIROBI, Kenya Aug 19 – Kenya Airways has set out plans to restore its grounded aircraft, expand its fleet to more than 60 planes, increase cargo operations and grow its maintenance business as it seeks to strengthen the airline’s operations and financial position amid high fuel costs, aircraft shortages and a significant debt burden.
“We are not looking at MRO 2 hangars. We are looking at MRO City, providing more than 2,000 jobs, direct jobs,” Capt. George Kamal, the Acting Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Kenya Airways, said on Wednesday during a media editors’ roundtable in Nairobi.
Kamal said the immediate priority was to return aircraft to service and stabilise the airline before embarking on faster growth, with KQ targeting full fleet capacity by the end of 2026 and a stronger growth phase from 2027. The airline’s medium-term plan is to build towards a fleet of approximately 60 aircraft or more over the next three years.
The airline says its current capacity constraints are largely linked to global shortages of engines and spare parts, which have affected aircraft maintenance and availability. Three Boeing 787 Dreamliners were grounded for much of the first half of 2026, while higher fuel costs added further pressure on operations.
KQ management says the problem is therefore not a shortage of passengers but the airline’s ability to consistently put enough aircraft into the air to serve existing demand.
Kamal said the airline’s turnaround would require additional capital, particularly to acquire aircraft and support the expansion of its operations.
“Do we need cash? Any transformation costs money. When you need to get an aircraft, how do you get an aircraft without cash? So that’s why you need an investor, strong investor,” he said.
KQ’s presentation to editors identified three main areas of execution: restoring fleet capacity, enforcing structural cost discipline, and raising capital while securing strategic backing.
Kamal said KQ had made progress in restoring its own fleet after operating at one point in 2025 with only 19 of its 32 aircraft. He said the airline was now operating between 25 and 26 aircraft, although the group’s wider fleet figure also includes JamboJet.
He explained that some aircraft had not been permanently grounded but were undergoing scheduled maintenance that had taken longer than expected because of difficulties obtaining spare parts.
The fleet strategy is also influencing how KQ serves the domestic market. Kamal said Kenya Airways had not stopped operating flights to Eldoret, but had given JamboJet more room to serve the route with smaller aircraft.
“It makes sense more to fly JamboJet, why? Because I can do more than one flight with a smaller aircraft and it’s a lower cost,” he said.
He said using smaller aircraft allowed the group to reduce fuel and maintenance costs while offering lower fares on routes where larger aircraft could not consistently achieve sufficient passenger numbers.
On regional routes, Kamal said demand remained relatively strong, putting the load factor on intra-African services at about 75 percent.
“We are not struggling in demand. We are struggling on availability and capacity of aircrafts. We need aircrafts,” he said.
KQ’s presentation showed that the airline’s cabin factor on US and European routes exceeded 90 percent in March 2026, even as the wider aviation sector faced disruptions arising from geopolitical tensions, higher oil prices and supply-chain constraints.
The airline also reported a 72 percent increase in fuel prices during the first half of the year, with management saying it could not transfer the full increase to passengers through higher fares.
“I can’t. I can’t. We have limitations, so we only can increase up to a certain limit and that’s it. And the rest we have to take as an airline,” Kamal said.
The fuel challenge comes against a wider difficult operating environment for African airlines. KQ’s presentation said Africa is highly dependent on imported jet fuel, with about half of jet fuel consumption supplied through imports, exposing carriers to international fuel-price movements.
The presentation also cited global aircraft supply constraints, with the combined Boeing and Airbus order backlog standing at 16,036 aircraft and an estimated 11.1-year clearance rate.
Against this backdrop, KQ is seeking to increase revenue from businesses beyond passenger travel, with cargo identified as one of the quickest opportunities.
Cargo currently contributes about 11 percent of KQ’s revenue, with the airline targeting approximately 20 percent within two to three years.
Kamal said the airline wanted to go further by increasing its share of Kenya’s export cargo market, arguing that the country’s position as a major exporter provided an opportunity for KQ.
“Today we are doing 70 tons a day. So when we need a 40% of our market share, I need to be 250 tons per day. That’s the minimum, that’s a turnaround for us,” he said.
He said KQ was considering acquiring or leasing a dedicated cargo aircraft, including Boeing 777 or 767 freighters, to increase its ability to serve exporters.
MRO is another major component of the expansion strategy. KQ says its MRO division is EASA-certified and is increasingly serving other African airlines.
Kamal said the airline wanted to move beyond its existing hangar operations and develop a larger MRO City with 14 bays and the capacity to create more than 2,000 direct jobs.
KQ is also looking at the commercial potential of its aviation training academy. Kamal said the academy has IATA approval, offers programmes in partnership with London Metropolitan University and has training capabilities covering areas including engineering, flight dispatch, pilots and cabin crew.
The airline is also considering expanding its existing medical centre into a hospital, with Kamal saying KQ was working with Indian and Thai hospitals as part of the plans.
“These are all money makers,” Kamal said while outlining the cargo, MRO, medical and academy businesses as areas the airline wants to develop alongside its core passenger operations.
KQ’s financial position remains a central part of the turnaround. Acting Chief Financial Officer Mary Mwenga said the airline’s operational performance was stronger than its balance sheet might suggest.
“If you look at our 2025 results which we announced just the other day, and you look at our earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, which measures the viability of a business, our EBITDAL was 14% positive,” Mwenga said.
Mwenga attributed part of the debt pressure to the acquisition of aircraft around the same period, meaning major maintenance requirements also fell due within a similar period and placed pressure on cash flows.
Kamal similarly said the aircraft had been acquired at roughly the same age and had subsequently been flying similar sectors, resulting in major maintenance requirements coming due around the same time.
“The real tangling, I think Mary has explained it, that we got the aircrafts all of them at the same age at the same time at the same year,” he said.
KQ says the Government of Kenya has assumed KSh63.1 billion of its debt, with the intention of converting the amount into equity once a strategic investor is secured. The airline is also pursuing a US$500 million recapitalisation.
The search for a strategic investor remains active, although Kamal said management could not give a definite completion date because the process involves third-party due diligence and negotiations.
Questions were also raised over KQ’s obligations to the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority following an Auditor-General observation on the airline’s outstanding debt to the regulator.
Mwenga said she had not seen the specific report referred to but maintained that KQ had payment arrangements with its suppliers, including KCAA.
“We have payment plans with our suppliers, KCAA included. And we have strong and continuous constant engagements with KCAA. And as far as I’m concerned we honor those payment plans and we are good with KCAA,” she said.
On the possibility of an equity investor affecting employees, Kamal said KQ would remain Kenya’s national carrier and that an investor would be expected to support expansion rather than simply acquire the existing business.
“If we have an equity investor, definitely equity investor is coming, Kenya Airways will remain the national carrier of Kenya,” he said.
He said the expansion of aircraft, MRO and other businesses would require additional employees and noted that existing labour agreements and regulations would also govern employment decisions.
Beyond capital raising, KQ is implementing measures intended to reduce structural costs. These include the centralisation of operational functions at the Integrated Operations Control Centre at Msafiri House, changes to ground-support equipment and bringing KQuench water production in-house.
The airline is also using partnerships to expand its network without having to invest in aircraft for every destination. Its expanded Qatar Airways codeshare provides access to 11 Asian destinations and feeds eight African routes through Nairobi, while its Delta Airlines codeshare provides access to 57 cities across the US and Canada.
Kamal said the airline’s strategy was to grow more cautiously after its earlier rapid expansion, arguing that capacity growth must be supported by a sustainable operating structure.
“And you know what? When you grow this way vertically, at some stage you have to plateau, you have to level off. Because otherwise you will fall,” he said.
