Kenya Airways: H1 revenue Sh81.25bn, loss widens to Sh16.1bn
Key points
- H1 2026 revenue: Sh81.25 billion, up 9% from Sh74.5 billion in H1 2025 — KQ’s second-highest half-year revenue print.
- Loss after tax: Sh16.1 billion, against Sh12.2 billion a year earlier. Operating costs rose 14%.
- Fuel costs rose 32% to Sh29 billion (about 52% of direct operating costs); jet fuel averaged $142 a barrel. Capacity was 9% lower; engine turnaround 90–120 days.
- Cargo revenue +18% to Sh8.77 billion. A 787-8 returned in July; a 777-300ER was redelivered. Acting GMD George Kamal and chairman Kiprono Kittony named recovery, cash and a capital raise.
Sh81.25 billion in, Sh16.1 billion still lost. That is Kenya Airways’ first-half 2026 score, KBC and The Standard both ran on 25 August: revenue up 9 per cent from Sh74.5 billion in H1 2025, the loss worse than last year’s Sh12.2 billion.
Fuel is the weight. Costs there rose 32 per cent to Sh29 billion, about 52 per cent of direct operating costs, on jet fuel averaging $142 a barrel. The Standard also logged a 66 per cent rise in jet-fuel prices and a 14 per cent jump in total operating costs. Capacity was 9 per cent thinner: engines and parts stuck in shops for 90 to 120 days. Acting Group MD George Kamal said the airline still grew the top line on a smaller fleet: “We grew revenue by 9% to Ksh81 billion despite operating with 9% less capacity.” Cabin factor improved (The Standard: four percentage points) and average fares helped; passenger traffic was down nine per cent in the Standard write-up. Cargo: Sh8.77 billion, up 18 per cent from Sh7.46 billion, with a plan to lift cargo share from 11 per cent toward 40 per cent via a Boeing 747 capacity buy. A 787-8 came back in July; a 777-300ER followed. Chairman Kiprono Kittony listed cost control, cash, fleet, lower leverage and a capital raise. A second-highest revenue half is not a profit. Treasury and IATA fuel tables, not a press line, will confirm the $142 barrel.
Nine per cent more revenue still lost the half
Sh29 billion of fuel on 9 per cent less flying is the ratio to audit. CMA filings, not the KBC summary, carry the tax line.
Business desk: Business. Verified Sh81.25bn, Sh16.1bn, Sh29bn fuel, 90–120 day shops and the two wide-bodies from KBC/Standard.
KQ should post the H1 pack. The capital-raise timetable belongs in a circular, not only Kittony’s quote.
Passengers should treat fleet restoration as a July–August fact, not a full summer schedule promise.
Readers should cross-check any deadline, fee, court date or programme claim against primary gazettes, agency circulars and court records before acting on this report.
Official gazettes, court rulings and agency circulars may update these facts after publication; readers should verify any deadline, fee or court date against primary sources before acting.
Based on KBC and The Standard reporting of KQ’s H1 2026 figures. Period-end dates follow those accounts.
