Kenya精东影业 newly elected President William Ruto has told Bloomberg that the government is prepared to sell its entire stake in Kenya Airways (KQ) to interested parties.
During the , which took place on the sidelines of the US-Africa Leaders’ Summit in Washington DC, Ruto revealed that the government was interested in selling the 鈥渨hole鈥 of the airline.
鈥淚鈥檓 not in the business of running an airline that just has a Kenyan flag, that精东影业 not my business,鈥 Ruto said.
The Kenyan government is keen to establish partnerships with other airlines that can help make KQ profitable, after last turning a profit in 2012.
In the interview, Ruto said that the Kenyan government is 鈥渓ooking for partnerships that will make Kenya Airways a profitable entity whatever that means, in whatever configuration, [and in] whatever form it takes.鈥
Ruto also revealed that Delta Air Lines was one of the potential airlines the government was interested in partnering with, stating that discussions with the airline were at a 鈥減reliminary stage鈥.
However, Ruto did not disclose details of the discussions with Delta.
The sale of the Kenyan government精东影业 stake in KQ would effectively alleviate it from bailing out the carrier.
In October 2022, Kenya Airways of an $841.6 million loan from the US Export-Import Bank in 2017, which the airline used to purchase seven aircraft and one engine. As a result, the Kenyan government was obliged to take over the repayment and pay up to $525 million.
The Kenyan government owns a 48.9% stake in Kenya Airways while Air France-KLM SA holds 7.8%. A , control a 38.1% stake in the airline, while employees hold a 2.4% stake and other shareholders hold a 2.8% stake.
