Kenya Airways is actively exploring a potential maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) partnership with South African Airways Technical (SAAT), the engineering arm of South African Airways (SAA), despite delays in previously announced collaboration plans.
Back in 2021, Kenya Airways and SAA unveiled ambitious intentions to establish a pan-African airline group by 2023. However, the COVID-19 pandemic forced both carriers into survival mode, pausing these developments. Kenya Airways CEO Allan Kilavuka explained that by the end of 2021, both airlines were focused solely on staying afloat.
Now that Kenya Airways has returned to profitability and is nearing completion of its “Project Kifaru” recovery plan, the airline is reviving efforts to deepen collaboration with SAA — this time through technical cooperation. Kilavuka noted that while the two carriers have exchanged support in the past, Kenya Airways is looking to strengthen ties with SAAT, citing its well-equipped facilities and skilled workforce as key advantages. “They have the tools and the personnel to help us really scale up,” he stated.
Kenya Airways currently handles most of its aircraft maintenance in-house, with about 65% of the workload for its own fleet and around 15% for external clients, including Astral Aviation, LAM Mozambique, and RwandAir. Kilavuka sees an opportunity to expand this service into a more independent revenue stream, contingent on securing more tools, space, and technical staff—potentially through collaboration with SAAT.
Diversification is central to Kenya Airways’ long-term strategy, with MRO expansion forming the cornerstone of this approach. Kilavuka emphasized that developing maintenance services into a standalone business unit could boost the airline’s financial resilience.
From the South African side, SAAT CEO Wellington Nyuswa has echoed similar sentiments, expressing support for increased cooperation between SAA and Kenya Airways. He acknowledged that regulatory and ownership frameworks can pose challenges, but pointed out that SAAT has excess capacity following SAA’s downsizing. With SAA’s reduced fleet, SAAT has shifted its focus, with over 40% of its business now coming from third-party clients—a figure Nyuswa says is likely to persist.
Looking ahead, Kilavuka hopes to rekindle broader strategic partnership talks with SAA soon. If those plans do not materialize, Kenya Airways may pursue a similar arrangement with another African carrier by 2027.
Meanwhile, the Kenyan government is working to reduce its ownership stake in Kenya Airways, seeking an equity partner to help finance the airline’s fleet renewal and expansion. Current fleet plans include replacing all 13 Embraer E190s with new narrowbody aircraft on a one-to-one basis and adding three long-haul jets and seven additional narrowbodies over the next five years. Options under evaluation include the Airbus A320ceo/neo, Boeing 737NG/MAX, A350, 787, and 777-200/-300 variants. Three leased 737-800s are already scheduled to join the fleet in 2025.
