A Kenyan senator wants clarity on the government's measures to address an aircraft shortage at Kenya Airways (KQ, Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta), reports The Star newspaper.

Senate Committee on Roads, Transportation & Housing member and Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei wants the government to disclose the details and terms of current and planned aircraft leases and their commercial viability.

Speaking in Parliament on September 25, he has also called for transparency on the strategic partnership framework between Kenya Airways and South African Airways (SA, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo) for a pan-African airline group and whether it will result in a merger of the two airlines.

Mombasa Senator Mombasa Faki lamented that Kenya Airways has been making losses for years and become a burden to taxpayers. "If you look at the ticket from Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta to Mombasa, it is not less than KES15,000 shillings (USD101). We are left to wonder whether the high cost is because of fuel, cost of running the company, or the debts the airline is supposed to repay," he said.

Kenya Airways was hit by a KES17 billion (USD117 million) loss due to foreign exchange fluctuations, resulting in a pre-tax loss of KES22 billion (USD151 million) in 3Q23 despite improved operational performance in the first half of 2023. A 14% devaluation of the shilling against major foreign currencies has seen its overheads climb by 22%.

The Kenyan government settled KES12.3 billion (USD85.3 million) of the airline's guaranteed debt in the financial year ending June 2023.

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the government is working on a new business restructuring plan for Kenya Airways, with one prepared in May 2022 on hold as it aims to wean the airline off the national budget by December 2023.

According to the ch-aviation Commercial Aviation Aircraft Data module, Kenya Airways' fleet comprises two B737-300(SF)s, eight B737-800s, nine B787-8s, and thirteen ERJ 190-100ARs, totalling 31 active aircraft, of which 17 are owned and 14 are leased.

Chief Operations Officer George Kamal told ch-aviation the airline was talking to manufacturers about options to phase out its older generation narrowbodies.