KAA eyes bailout without flights

KAA has been hit hard by Covid-19 since the flights were grounded in mid-March. FILE PHOTO | NMG

What you need to know:

  • KAA has been hit hard by Covid-19 since the flights were grounded in mid-March.
  • The authority has approached the government in that regard, indicating that they would need some support at a given point.

The Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) will run out of cash in six months if the freeze on commercial flights is not lifted amid coronavirus pandemic that has hit the aviation sector hard.

KAA acting managing director Alex Gitari said they will seek government financial support in the next six months if normal operations would not have resumed at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport as the authority projects to have run out of cash.

He said their cash reserves can only last six months from now.

“The money that we currently have in our reserves can sustain us in the next six months, if there will be no meaningful recovery, then we might have to seek financing from the government,” said Mr Gitari during a Webinar organised by Airports Council International (ACI).

“Seeking support from the government still remains part of our financial strategy. We are working out where we are at the moment in terms of financial projections that we had made and see how far we can go,” he added.

Mr Gitari said the KAA has been hit hard by Covid-19 since the flights were grounded in mid-March.

He said the authority has approached the government in that regard, indicating that they would need some support at a given point.

The KAA, which is one of the parastatals that have had a strong balance sheet, had last year in December given Treasury Sh12 billion in special dividends to support some of the government programmes.

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