Mr Mbuvi Ngunze, the Kenya Airways chief executive. PHOTO | FILE
By MUGAMBI MUTEGI
In Summary
The leasing of a Boeing 777-300 Kenya Airways
plane to Turkish Airlines now reduces to two the number of aircraft
that the national carrier intends to hire out to the European airline.
The national carrier, known as KQ by its international code,
on Friday announced that it had finalised the leasing out of the
aircraft to Turkish Airlines, ending months of speculation about the
transaction.
The deal now leaves KQ with a pair of Boeing
777-300 aircraft to lease to Turkish Airlines as part of plane disposal
initiative through which it expects to save $84 million (Sh8.4 billion)
annually.
“Subleasing and selling of aircraft will improve
our fleet costs by over $7 million a month and is part of our strategy
to turn KQ into profitability in the next 18 to 24 months,” said KQ’s
chief executive Mbuvi Ngunze in a statement.
Earlier this year, KQ sold two Boeing 777-200
planes to US-based carrier Omni Air International. It has also delivered
one of two Boeing 787 aircraft it is leasing to Oman Air.
The sublease (to Turkish Airlines) is part of the
KQ’s Operation Pride strategy that seeks to rationalise its excess
capacity through sub-leases and outright sales, the airline said.
Two weeks ago the Kenya Airline Pilots Association
(Kalpa) alleged that the Turkish Airlines deal was not above board as KQ
procurement department was allegedly not involved.
The pilots’ umbrella body, which includes about 500
KQ pilots, also complained that the long time it had taken since the
planes were flown to Turkey would be expensive for the national carrier.
Kenya Airways however says the time taken to
transfer the planes is influenced by the industry’s rigorous regulatory
requirements. “Any decision relating to aircraft acquisition, sub-lease
or disposal is made by the Board” said KQ in response to the Business Daily queries.
“Inducting aircraft into a new operator is a
process that takes time. In this case, the aircraft have been in
Istanbul since March but they are not parked, they have undergone
maintenance work as part of the normal check process, and change in
paint/livery which is the major lead time item. The maintenance rates
are in line with market rates for similar work.”
KQ, which posted a Sh25.7 billion loss for the year
to March 2015, announced its intention to sell four Boeing planes in
November 2014 but the plan was delayed following a court injunction
after pilots filed a case protesting the move
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