Bonface Kanyamwaya, a journalist at TUKO.co.ke, has more than 10 years of financial, economy, business, markets and aviation expertise, providing insights into Kenya and global trends.

The volume of cargo carried by Kenya Airways (KQ) increased by 25% in the year ended December 2024 compared to a similar period in 2023, mainly due to the carrier's introduction of more cargo planes during the period under review.

KQ, as the airline is known by its international code, said during the release of its financial results last week that cargo tonnage on both passenger belly and freight aircraft increased by 25% to close at 70,776 tonnes as of December 2024, up from 56,576 tonnes in December 2023.

Last year’s performance translates into an average of 5,898 tonnes per month compared to an average of 4,715 tonnes per month in the year ended December 2020.

Kenya Airways, which plans to launch more routes in its expansion plan this year, received its second Boeing 737-800 freighter, bringing the total cargo fleet to four last year.

The freighter planes offered customers more cargo capacity on its global network, especially in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa.

The freighter planes tapped into the opportunities emerging from the Africa Continental Free Trade Area to catalyse trade within and outside the African continent.

“We have committed to gradually increase our business and support our customers in the long-term need and deliver possibilities in the air. The arrival of a new Boeing 737 freighter, the second one this year and the fourth in our cargo fleet is a significant milestone in KQ’s cargo fleet expansion plans.

“We are confident the additional cargo aircraft will allow us to further increase our capacity and significantly increase our capacity and significantly increase our frequencies as we propel Africa’s prosperity and connect its people, culture, and markets,” said Kenya Airways CEO Allan Kilavuka in a statement early last year when it acquired a new cargo plane.

The airline said that it will deploy the cargo plane on routes such as Sharjah and Dubai World Central in the United Arab Emirates, Jeddah, and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia.

Other routes targeted were Dakar in Senegal, Lagos in Nigeria Ndjamena in Chad, Mogadishu in Somalia, Mumbai in India, Free Town in Sierra Leon, and Monrovia in Liberia among many other destinations.

The new cargo aircraft KQ had received offered 20 tons of cargo capacity with a range of up to seven hours and joined the existing KQ cargo freighter fleet of one Boeing737-800, and two Boeing 737-300 freighters.

During the period under review, reported that KQ ended its loss-making streak, posting a net profit of KSh 5.4 billion for the year ended December 2024.

The all-time high net profit of KSh 5.4 billion was from KSh 22.7 billion loss reported in the financial year that ended in December 2023.

KQ flew 5.23 million passengers on its planes last year, a 4% growth over the previous year.

The carrier's total income of KSh 188.5 billion, a 5.6% increase from KSh 178.5 billion in 2023.

The carrier attributed the improved performance to a combination of higher passenger numbers, strategic cost-cutting measures, and favorable foreign exchange gains.

Source: TUKO.co.ke