A study by African Competition Forum shows that Kenya Airways (KQ), is the most expensive Airline in Africa. The study was done in 24 countries.
“Kenya Airways has the highest average passenger price per kilometer (APPK) for all its domestic, regional, and international routes. In addition, the routes for the Tanzania markets from Nairobi have higher APPK than international routes, which are long distances,” says the study
Kenya Airways’ average price per kilometer on the Nairobi- Johannesburg route is Kshs 23.8 while Kshs 22 is the average price for South African Airways for the same route.
The airline is now at risk of losing its market to other Airlines such as South African Airways, Ethiopian Airways, and Air France which charge their passengers a lower price.
“Prices charged by two operators on this route are visibly different for both economy and business class categories. Kenya Airways prices are 21 percent higher than SAA prices for economy class tickets,” a part of the report reads.
The study, however, also reveals that Kenya Airways is a bit cheap in some routes compared to other Airlines.
“For business tickets, SAA prices are significantly higher than Kenya Airways prices. Kenya Airways on average charges R14,089 (Ksh106,000) for a business class ticket, while SAA charges R22,954.93 (Ksh172,796) for the same class. SAA’s upper-end tickets sell at around 39 percent more than Kenya Airways prices”, the report says.
On Nairobi – Paris route, Kenya Airways charges an average of Ksh 9.4 per kilometer while Air France charges an average of Ksh. 8.3
Kenya Airways charges Ksh 15.6 per kilometer on the Nairobi – Adisababa route, 2.4 shillings higher than Ethiopian Airlines which charges Kshs 13.2 per kilometer for the same route.