The Public Debt and Privatization Committee led by the Vice-Chairperson Hon. (Dr) Makali Mulu held a meeting with the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Kenya Airways Mr. Allan Kilavuka, to discuss the financial status of the Airline. Of great concern to the Committee is the Airline's plan to get out of debt and become competitive.

 During his presentation, Mr. Kilavuka told the Committee that Kenya Airways reported a significant improvement in its revenue collection for the Financial Year 2021/2022.  As compared to the Financial Year 2020/2021 the Airline improved by 66 percent. He noted that this was achieved despite the fact that fuel prices increased during this period due to the Russia-Ukraine crisis and forex volatility.

 "This improvement in revenue, however, was affected by the significant deterioration of the Kenya Shilling against the US Dollar, since a large proportion of our borrowing is denominated in US Dollars", Mr. Kilavuka said.

 Further, the CEO noted tha  even with these challenges, Kenya Airways managed to improve its financial performance by reducing operating losses from Kshs. 6.8 billion to Kshs. 5.6 billion. He confirmed that currently the Airline has fully paid for two aircrafts out of its fleet of 36. 

 In addition, Mr. Kilavuka briefed the Committee on "Project Kifaru"  , a three-year turnaround strategy started in February 2022. This project aims at addressing debt, high cost of fleet and other structural cost issues on a sustainable basis, that were not addressed by previous restructuring plans. According to him, this will help bring the National carrier to profitability.