Kenya Airways seeks financial help from the government

Kenya Airways has sought an undisclosed sum from the government to help to cover critical costs such as payment of staff salaries, its chairman said on Tuesday.

The carrier, in which Air France KLM holds a small stake, is operating only a handful of domestic flights after the government stopped all international flights last week to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

“We are asking for some assistance to support the airline through this period for critical operational costs like salaries,” Michael Joseph told Reuters.

The airline has already furloughed most of its workers and cut all salaries by as much as 80%, including for Chief Executive Allan Kilavuka, who was not immediately available for comment.

The coronavirus crisis has hit the entire global aviation industry, but Kenya Airways was in a weak financial position long before it started.

The government has been working on a plan to renationalise the airline, which is one of the biggest on the continent, to save it from mounting debts that had already been restructured in 2017 in an attempt to save the business.

There was no immediate comment from officials on how the coronavirus crisis will shape the renationalisation plan.