This archive report was first published on 27 June 2020.
Kenya Airways has announced that it will not implement physical distancing on its flights, citing a lack of scientific evidence that the virus is transmitted within the aircraft environment.
According to the airline's CEO, Allan Kilavuka, the aircraft's air filtration systems are equipped with hyper filters that significantly reduce the risk of virus transmission.
"The aircraft environment and the way air circulates within the aircraft and the ventilation systems, the hyper filters reduces the risks significantly of the risks of virus, Kenya Airways will not be doing physical distance on aircraft because there is little scientific proof that there is extra risk of transmission," Kilavuka said.
Implementing physical distancing would require the airline to neutralize middle seats, which would make flights uneconomic and lead to a 100% hike in fares, Kilavuka explained.
"If we do the physical distancing, which is neutralizing middle seat, it is going to be uneconomic to fly, the air tickets will rise by up to 100 percent which will make it impossible for us to fly. I dare say most airlines will not implement that kind of a measure," he asserted.
Kenya Airways has lost over Sh10 billion in revenue since January and is predicting up to Sh50 billion in losses by December, Kilavuka said.
"Our estimates is that since January to date, we have probably lost around USD 100 million (Sh10 billion), when we estimate to the end of the year we will lose USD 400 million to 500 million (Sh40-50 billion)," Kilavuka said.
Kenya Airways' Chairperson, Michael Joseph, has pleaded with the government to open the skies to facilitate the resumption of flights, which will revive revenues generated from airline-related businesses.
"Our plea is that can we start flying as soon as possible, even if it is at reduced level, any commercial flights will help us a lot, so can we start earning revenue, bring tourists to Kenya, bring business meetings, hotels will open, create more job and get more people to work," he said.
