Kenya Airways posts 8.9 percent growth in half-year earnings

Kenya Airways has posted an 8.9 percent increase in half-year earnings due to regional expansion, airline officials said on Friday.

Kenya Airways Managing Director Titus Naikuni told an investor briefing in Nairobi that the profits were a result of route expansion across Africa and the opening of new destinations in Middle East and Asia.

"Our profit after tax for the first half of the 2006/07 financial year was 2.4 billion shillings (about 33.3 million dollars) compared to 2.2 billion (about 30.6 million dollars) during the corresponding period last year," Naikuni said.

According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) industry performance report for the past six months, Africa posted an 8.4 percent growth in passenger capacity, mainly driven by new investments and the opening of new route connections.

Kenya Airways managed to open new routes across Africa and new connections in Europe with flights connecting to Paris going live on Thursday night.

Source: Xinhua