The airline’s CEO Titus Naikuni on Sunday said the national carrier was operating at 90 per cent its capacity and expects a return to normal operations in two days helped by a temporary arrival terminal.
The fire last Wednesday gutted the arrivals hall and damaged some of the departure area, forcing airport authorities to handle overseas passengers through the makeshift terminal after a day-long shut down.
A section of the of international departures unit will resume operations from Wednesday, according to the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA).
“For sure we have lost revenue, right now it’s about $4 million for us as an airline,” said Mr Naikuni during a media briefing on Sunday at the airport, adding that the airline was yet to tabulate the full impact of the inferno, especially the costs incurred.
“We are trying to clean the backlog that is here and other stations. As soon as we have done that we shall go back to our normal operations,” said Mr Naikuni.
The airline also said it is sending Boeing 777 to go for the 492 passengers stranded in Hong Kong on Monday as the airport resumes operations.
The Kenya Airports Authority said a temporary terminal with a capacity of 2.5 million people — or 6,850 people per day—would be constructed within weeks while the authorities race to fast-track the construction of a new terminal due to open in March.
Whether the fire deals a crushing blow to Kenya’s reputation as a regional gateway depends on how quickly the airport can return to handling more than 16,000 passengers a day, analysts say.
KAA admits it lost about 60 per cent in advertising revenues and concession businesses but could not quantify the losses by Sunday.
“We shall start doing the cost analysis next week once we have set up. Our priority is to ensure all the facilities are available then we shall do the analysis,” said KAA’s general manager marketing, Lucy Mbugua.
Worst-performing
The fire was a blow as the country starts the peak tourism season and it also slowed down horticulture industry, a major foreign exchange earner.
For KQ, it came when the airline was showing signs of recovery from the biggest loss ever in the history of companies listed on the Nairobi bourse.
The airline passenger numbers increased 10.9 per cent in the first quarter ended June, a reversal from last year’s trend where a drop in passenger traffic saw KQ post a loss of Sh7.86 billion in the year to March compared to a profit of Sh1.66 billion.
Its share at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) stood at Sh9.45 on Thursday— Friday was a holiday—compared Tuesday’s close Sh9.55 and has shed 30.5 per cent in the past year, making it one of worst performing stocks on the bourse over the 12 months.
