Kenya Airways (KQ) has recorded a 50 percent drop in its net loss in the year ended December 2021, to Sh15.8 billion.

This is a significant improvement from the record Sh36.2 billion net loss the airline recorded in 2020 on the back of global travel restrictions owing to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

This saw a revenue increase of  33 percent from Sh52.8 billion to Sh70.2 billion as the number of passengers grew 25 percent to 2.2 million, while cargo ferried also grew 29 percent to 63,726 metric tonnes.

However, the firm says its performance was limited by the travel restrictions that rolled on into the first quarter of the financial year as well as the Omicron variant of the virus that spread later in the year leading to the reintroduction of travel curbs by some countries.

“Kenya Airways took advantage of the lockdown period to restructure and transform operations and products,” chairman Michael Joseph said in the statement.

“We have seen some good recovery in our domestic, regional, and selected international routes.”

In the year under review, the company transported 2.2 million passengers, a 25 percent increase over the previous year.

However, its direct operating costs grew 32.9 percent which the firm attributed mainly to increased operations and an increase in global fuel crude oil prices driven by the resumption of economic activities globally.

“There are several strategic initiatives that the company is pursuing that should help to future proof the various reform efforts that the company has instituted,” added Joseph.

“Some of these include the commercialisation of unmanned aircraft technology and eVTOL, expansion of cargo, and our MRO facility,” he said.