Kenya Airways leases out plane to Turkish Airlines

Kenya Airways has signed a lease agreement with Turkish Airlines for one of its three Boeing 777-300 aircraft as part of cost-cutting measures. The airline said the aircraft has since been de-registered in Kenya and subsequently re-registered with the European carrier.

The sub-lease is part of KQ's strategy to cut costs through sub-leases and outright sales. This year alone, KQ has signed a sale agreement with Omni Air International (Omni) for two B777-200ERs and a sublease agreement with Oman Air for two B787-8s. Both B777-200ERs have since been delivered to Omni and the first of the two 787-8s was delivered to Oman Air at the beginning of April 2016.

Kenya Airways CEO Mbuvi Ngunze said: "It has been a long journey and we are happy to announce our plans are now coming to fruition. Sub-leasing and selling of aircraft will improve our fleet costs by over $7 million (Sh702 million) a month and is part of our strategy to turn Kenya Airways into profitability in the next 18 to 24 months."