Kenya Airways has quietly extended CEO Allan Kilavuka's term by three years until April 2026, the national carrier's chairman Michael Joseph confirmed on Friday.
Mr Kilavuka was first appointed as CEO of KQ Group in April 2020. He held the acting position between January and March 2020 following the exit of his predecessor, a Polish national. Sebastian Mikusch.
“The Kenya Airways Board of Directors extended Alan’s term for another three years towards the end of last year,” Mr Joseph said.
Mr Kilavuka joins KQ from low-cost airline Jambojet where he had been CEO since January 2019.
Prior to that, he was the leader of GE's global operations in sub-Saharan Africa.
He has been instrumental in attempts to turn around the loss-making airline's fortunes since he took office at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic when flights were grounded globally.
Despite the challenging operating environment, KQ reduced its net loss for the financial year ended December 31, 2021 to Sh15.87 billion, down 56 percent from 2020's loss of Sh36.21 billion.
The national carrier posted its worst-ever net loss of Sh38.26 billion in 2022 due to high financing costs. However, the board was optimistic, saying the airline was on track to reach break-even and become profitable by 2024 – something it has not done since 2012 when it closed with a net profit of Sh1.66 billion.
Last year, the airline narrowed net loss by 40.7 percent to Sh22.69 billion, supported by higher revenues.
KQ's sales grew 52.8 percent to Sh178.4 billion as it rebuilt its route network and capacity from the depths of the Covid-19 pandemic that hit the global aviation sector.
The airline recorded an operating profit of Sh10.5 billion, reversing an operating loss of Sh5.6 billion the previous year.
This reflects rapid growth in revenue compared to operating costs, which increased by 38 percent to Sh168 billion.