How Kenya Airways plans to overcome financial turbulence

Kenya Airways takes off from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi. [File, Standard]

Following recently unveiled half-year financial results for Kenya Airways (KQ), a familiar and perennial debate has re-emerged: Does Kenya truly require a national carrier? Some critics have gone so far as to call for its dissolution—despite the historic milestone it achieved just last year, posting its first net profit in a decade. They question how such a promising financial trajectory—marked by a net profit of Sh5.4 billion—could so swiftly reverse into a net loss. They ask, can this progress be trusted? Is it sustainable? But one must ask in turn—is such scepticism warranted?