NAIROBI, March 23 (Xinhua) -- Kenya Airways pretax loss rose to 36.6 billion shillings (333 million U.S. dollars) in 2020, up from 118 million dollars recorded in 2019, the airline said on Tuesday.

Hellen Mathuka, chief financial officer, Kenya Airways told a virtual investor briefing that the adverse performance was due to the travel restrictions put in place to curb the spread of the pandemic last year.

"The key factor in the decline in turnover is due to the reduction in passenger revenue which is attributed to the airline grounding its aircraft for a period of time in 2020," Mathuka said during the release of the financial results for the year ended in December 2020.

She noted that turnover in 2020 declined by 59 percent to hit 480 million dollars.

The national carrier added that the passenger traffic reduced by 66 percent to 1.8 million compared to 5.2 million in 2019.

Mathuka observed that cargo volumes delivered by the airline also decreased by 28 percent to hit 49,418 tons.

Allan Kilavuka, CEO, Kenya Airways said that without government support it will be difficult for the airline to survive during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kilavuka noted it is keen on partnering with other airlines and players in the industry so as to be able to create scale and help the airline rebound to profitability.

Michael Joseph, chairman, Kenya Airways said the airline may not achieve significant growth in 2021.

He noted that projections show that it may take up to 2024 before the passenger traffic reaches the levels of 2019. Enditem

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