Encomm Aviation (Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta) has warned it may be unable to repay a USD16 million loan underwritten by Sweden’s Exportkreditnämnden (EKN) following BAe Systems' withdrawal of product support for the BAe ATP, effectively shutting down the Kenyan carrier’s operations.

The financing, extended in 2017 via Svensk Exportkredit (SEK) to acquire four ATP freighters from West Atlantic Sweden, is now at risk of default, the Kenyan carrier warned in a statement on December 8, 2025.

Encomm, the last global operator of the ATP since 2023, alleges it was assured by BAe Systems' leadership that support would continue for at least five years, or as long as one ATP remained in service. Just over a year later, the manufacturer terminated its support without consultation, the airline claims.

The collapse of its operations resulted in more than 50 job losses and the cancellation of a scheduled year-long World Food Programme contract. Between March 2023 and September 2025, Encomm’s ATPs had transported 18,677 metric tonnes of humanitarian cargo across Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Chad.

The carrier is now seeking GBP187 million pounds (USD250 million) in losses and damages from BAE in the United Kingdom, claiming "negligent misrepresentation and misstatement by BAe Systems".

Encomm director Jackton Obuola claimed the support shutdown from the manufacturer came "overnight", placing both the airline’s financiers and East African aid deliveries at heightened risk, even as BAE reports record profits and secures major defence contracts in Europe.

ch-aviation has contacted BAe Systems for comment.

From 2023, Encomm acquired 12 long-stored ATPs from West Atlantic Sweden - ten freighters and two passenger aircraft - and invested heavily in a long-term operational programme, including securing the world’s only operational full-motion ATP simulator. The carrier obtained its air operator's certificate (AOC) and approved maintenance organisation (AMO) certification from the Kenyan Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) in August 2024 and had planned to launch passenger services in late 2025.