Government should nationalize Kenya Airways quickly -CEO

The government must move quickly to nationalise Kenya Airways as regional competitors seeking to carve out market share pour cash into their national carriers, the airline’s CE said. Lawmakers voted in July to re-nationalize the loss-making airline, which is 48.9% state-owned, 7.8% held by Air France-KLM , and 38% owned by local lenders, hoping to emulate the success of state-owned Ethiopian Airlines, sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest airline. Kenya Airways was privatised more than 20 years ago but sank into debt and losses in 2014 after a failed expansion drive and a slump in travelers after a major terror attack. In August, it saw its H1 pretax loss more than double from a year earlier to 8.56b Kenyan shillings ($83m). CE Sebastian Mikosz said the government will likely appoint a nationalization advisor by the end of the year and the process should be completed next year. “It’s so important...to have the nationalization done speedily, to have an answer about what the future of the airline is in terms of its structure in the next five years,” he said. Countries like Tanzania and Rwanda are investing heavily in their national carriers, threatening Kenya Airways’ market share.<br/>