Kenya Airways puts loss from fire at $4m

KENYA Airways CE Titus Naikuni said the airline had so far lost about $4m in revenue as a result of last week’s fire at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, local media reported on Monday. The blaze in the early hours of Wednesdaymorning destroyed the international arrivals building, forcing East Africa’s fourth-busiest airport to close temporarily. Five days after the fire, passengers are still facing long delays and cancellations. "We have lost revenues of about $4m," Mr Naikuni told journalists at the airport on Sunday. Mr Naikuni was touring tents that have been erected as a makeshift terminal outside the airport in Kenya’s capital. He said Kenya Airways handled 9,600 passengers on Saturday at the airport, slightly short of the 11,000 travellers the airline usually ferries through Nairobi’s main airport each day. "The incident also left us with a huge pile-up, but we are catching up because we are at about90% of our normal flights," Mr Naikuni said. Reuters