Business
Kenya Airways eyes massive expansion in next 5 years
The main risk facing the firm’s plan is the expansion of Nairobi’s main airport, which although built in 1978 to handle 2.5 million passengers a year, manages 5 million.
“This airport must be expanded quickly. Let’s break the ground quickly because if we continue talking, another year could go by,” Naikuni said, adding that the new facility should have a capacity of 20 million passengers.
Kenya Airways expects to carry 4 million passengers in its 2012/13 (April-March) financial year, up from 3.7 million in the year ending this month, Naikuni said, thanks to the increased services it has been offering.
“We are still not a mature market in Africa therefore there is growth,” he said, adding the cargo business would also grow due to the new freighter the airline leased this financial year.
He said total revenue from cargo was 8 percent, but that may rise to 10-11 percent by the end of the next financial year.
The carrier has a fuel hedging policy to cushion performance from jumps in crude oil prices, a key element of its costs.
“We have already hedged 80 percent of our supplies until March 2013 and we have another 45 percent hedge for 2013/2014 but we are looking at the market and we will increase that hedge to 80 percent,” Naikuni said.
