Kenya Airways has welcomed the return to service of one of three grounded Boeing 787s in July, after a financially and operationally challenging first half of 2025.
Outlining its January-June 2025 earnings on 26 August, the SkyTeam carrier cited the grounding of those three jets – one-third of its widebody fleet – as it swung to a net loss of KShs12.2 billion ($94 million) for the period. That came after the business had secured its first full-year net profit in over a decade in 2024; a result it achieved despite having some issues with 787 groundings over the 12 months.
Those issues appeared to worsen in the first half of this year amid “global supply chain disruptions and engine availability constraints”, with three of Kenya Airways’ nine 787-8s on the ground, reducing its overall capacity by around 16% year on year.
Kenya Airways says overhauls of the GE Aerospace GEnx-1B engines that power its 787 fleet are taking 90-120 days, up from 60 days. It also estimates that global demand for OEM spare parts is running at 10-20% above supply, and that lead times for avionics parts have increased by 20% amid significant “delivery disruption” covering all spares.
The carrier is better placed for the second half of 2025, however, with the two other grounded 787s expected to return to service later in the year, it says.
The nine 787s make up a significant proportion of Kenya Airways’ fleet of 42 aircraft, which also features 10 Boeing 737-800s,13 Embraer 190s, eight De Havilland Canada Dash 8s and two 737 freighters.
