Kenya Airways defaults on Sh25bn State loans

Kenya Airways

A Kenya Airways plane.

Photo credit: File | Kevin Odit | Nation Media Group

What you need to know:

  • The carrier has for years been relying on bailouts from the Treasury amid years of perennial losses that have made it technically insolvent.
  • The Treasury gave KQ a Sh11 billion bailout in 2020, months after the suspension of international and domestic flights.

Kenya Airways defaulted on interest for a Sh25 billion loan owed to the government in the year ended December, highlighting the financial hit the airline took from the pandemic disruptions.

The national carrier revealed in its report for the year ended December that it did not make any payment for the loans that were taken in two tranches last year and in 2020.

Kenya Airways applied for the loans after grounding its fleet following the ban on international flights as Kenya and other nations raced to curb the spread of Covid-19.

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