The Airline's Board Chair Michael Joseph said growth was due to improved passenger, cargo, ancillaries, and other revenue streams, mainly due to expansion of the Kenya Airways network.

The year also saw the airline invest in new routes to the network; Geneva, Rome, and Malindi.

Passenger revenue grew by 8.9 percent driven by route expansion (full year of New York operations, launch of Rome, Geneva and Malindi).

The loss was largely expected, after KQ warned shareholders in December that it expected its net profit for the year ending December 2019 to decline by at least 25, on account of increased competition in the airline's area of operations.

According to a report by IATA, airlines have parked between 80 and 90 percent of their aircraft, some 4.5 million flights have been cancelled and an estimated $314 billion in revenues will be lost this year.