Kenya Airways releases its operating results for the third quarter ended 31st December 2012.

 

The company put into the market capacity totalling 3,613m seat kilometres which was 1.1% above prior year’s level.  The growth during the period was as a result of introducing flights to Eldoret, Kilimanjaro and New Delhi.

 

The capacity into Middle East and Far East regions grew by 19.4%. This was driven by New Delhi, a new entrant into the region.  Capacity offered into Europe shrunk by 26.6% compared to the same quarter of prior year due to capacity rationalization occasioned by the Euro zone crisis and the suspension of the Rome flights.

 

The Northern Africa region grew by 2.8% in capacity owing to increased frequencies to Djibouti via Addis Ababa and use of the larger Embraer 190 fleet as opposed to Embraer 170 used in the same quarter of prior year.  Capacity availed into the East African region grew by 22.7% compared to same period last year. This was mostly due to increased deployment of larger equipment.

 

Capacity in the Southern Africa region grew by 6.8% mainly from increase in frequency to Nampula and Harare via Gaborone.  West African region grew by 5.6% mainly in the Cotonou and Dakar routes.  The Boeing 777-200 was deployed on the Kinshasa route as a result of increased demand of cargo and excess baggage.  This led the Central Africa region to grow by 28.6% in capacity.  

 

On the Domestic front, capacity shrunk by 1.4% compared to similar period prior year despite entry of Eldoret route.  This was as a result of rationalization of Mombasa operations from the larger B737 aircraft to the smaller Embraer 190.  Capacity availed to Kisumu grew by 15.4% due to use of the larger Embraer 190 fleet as opposed to Embraer 170 to capture increased traffic during the quarter.

 

Traffic measured in revenue passenger kilometres at 2,519m was 1.7% below similar period last year.  Europe recorded the highest reduction due to the economic challenges facing the Euro-Zone economies that necessitated cutbacks in capacity offered.

 

The total passenger tally, which closed at 991,149, indicates a growth of 3.6% compared to similar period last year.  The resultant cabin factor at 69.7% was lower than prior year’s 71.7%.

 

Passenger uplift to Europe at 95,036 was a reduction from last year’s level of 117,527 following the capacity reduction already alluded to.  This resulted to 81.7% seat occupancy an improvement of 8.3% over last year.  

 

In the Middle East, Far East and India regions, uplifted passenger traffic at 151,100 showed an improvement of 15.2% compared to same period prior year. However, the realised cabin factor of 69.3% was below prior year’s level of 75.4%.

 

Within Africa but excluding Kenya, passengers uplifted totalled 516,894 indicating a growth of 2.9% on the back of 10.1% capacity growth.  The resultant passenger cabin factor of 63.6% was 4.5 percentage points lower than similar period last year. 

 

Passengers uplifted within Kenya at 228,119 increased by 10.9%. The resulting cabin factor of 81.5% was above 74.6% achieved last year. 

 

Cargo capacity dropped 10.7% with a proportionate decline in tonnage during the period. The pricing environment remained positive across the network. 

 

 

Ends…/