Grounded Boeing Dreamliners sink KQ in Sh17.2bn full year 2025 net loss

The national carrier Kenya Airways has announced a full year 2025 net loss of Sh17.2 billion. This loss was a reverse shift from the record profit of Sh5.4 billion that the national carrier posted in the full year 2024.

The national carrier has blamed this heavy loss on the grounding of its wide body Dreamliner planes that were due for engine overhauls.

“Overall performance and operations in the year 2025 were severely impacted primarily by the temporary grounding of three of the wide body fleet, Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft. This was driven by the global supply chain constraints and limited engine availability,” Kenya Airways said in a statement.

In the full year under review, total income fell by 14.3 percent to Sh161.5 billion. Total assets increased by 2.3 percent to Sh183.2 billion while non-current assets went up by 3.1 percent to Sh141.8 billion. Total liabilities went up by 6. percent to Sh315.3 billion.

During the year, Available Seat Kilometres (ASKs) declined by 18 percent to 13,349 million, while passenger numbers dropped by 13 percent.

“While our financial performance reflects a challenging year, it is important to recognize that this was driven primarily by global supply chain disruptions and not a lack of demand,” said Kenya Airways Chairman, Kiprono Kittony. 

The national carrier had already issued a profit warning to shareholders following a challenging year in which it recorded a half year net loss of Sh12.15 billion.

In the first six months of the 2025 year, 33 percent of the carrier’s wide-body aircraft was grounded. The grounding of the aircraft resulted in a 14 percent drop in passenger numbers and a 19 percent drop in Revenue Passenger Kilometres (RPKs).

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Following the results, Acting Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer George Kamal said that the management of the airline was now focusing on stabilizing the airline.

“We are taking deliberate steps to stabilize the business in the near term while laying the foundation for long-term resilience. Our focus is not just recovery, but reinvention,” said Kamal.