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Kenya Airways interim CEO and African Airlines Association (AFRAA) Chair George Kamal
RIO DE JANEIRO—Kenya Airways Group is looking to add a few widebody freighters to its fleet of four Boeing 737Fs and is considering whether to bring in the Embraer E2 regional jet.
Kenya Airways interim CEO and African Airlines Association (AFRAA) Chair George Kamal talked with ATW about fleet and general growth plans on the sidelines of the IATA AGM in Rio de Janeiro this week.
Across the Group, which includes regional arm Jambojet, Kenya Airways operates 42 aircraft. Kamal said the airline was looking to get that number to 60 by 2030 and 100 by 2035.
In particular, he said the airline was considering adding two or more Boeing 777Fs to supplement the 737Fs. He said the number and specific variant would depend “on what we find in the market,” indicating they would be pre-owned or leased aircraft.
An additional 737-800 will join the passenger fleet in November, although Kamal said the airline was delaying entry-into-service of its first 737 MAX to 2027 because of the carrier’s cash situation after the outbreak of the war in Iran. After reevaluating its network, Kenya Airways could potentially take three MAXs in 2027. The airline has nine 737-8s on order, with deliveries originally planned to start this year.
The SkyTeam alliance member also has nine Embraer E190s in service. Kamal said the carrier was in talks with Boeing about potentially more 737s and with Embraer about the E2. “[The E2] looks good. We are not saying that we will acquire them, but we are looking into it positively. Kenya Airways is the only African country with an Embraer [maintenance] center,” Kamal said.
In July, Kenya Airways will take back one 777-300ER it had leased to Turkish Airways and place that aircraft on routes to London Heathrow and Johannesburg. A second 777-300ER may also return soon.
Kenya Airways also has nine 787-8s, however two are grounded because of issues with their GE GEnx engines. Kamal said he believed those would be back in operation by the end of the year.
Despite higher fuel prices, Kenya Airways aims to increase intra-African services by 20%-25% and is pushing to launch a second hub in Africa. “We want to have more connectivity from different areas to Nairobi as our hub,” he said. “In Africa, about 40% of operational costs are typically for fuel, but with the current situation, that has crossed over the 50% mark.”
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