Allan Kilavuka becomes permanent CEO of Kenya Airways
Allan Kilavuka has taken up the charge as the permanent chief executive officer (CEO) of Kenya Airways.
February 28, 2020: Allan Kilavuka has taken up the charge as the permanent chief executive officer (CEO) of Kenya Airways (KQ), from the current position of acting CEO. Kilavuka, CEO and MD of the airline's low-cost carrier Jambojet has been serving as the acting CEO from January 1, 2020, since the former CEO Sebastian Mikosz exited.
The international headhunt for the role yielded no tangible results as potential candidates at an early stage already signalled their lack of interest.
Kenya Airways’ chairman Michael Joseph welcomed the support of the board of directors in having the appointment of Kilavuka confirmed when he said, ‘It is particularly gratifying for me that the board agreed to support the appointment of Allan to the full role of substantive CEO.”
Allan has over 22 years of working experience. He started his career at Deloitte and then General Electric Company where he held various senior leadership positions in their sub-Saharan Africa businesses before joining Jambojet.
Kilavuka will now join the boards of all KQ subsidiary companies and will remain on the board of Jambojet, initially as CEO until March 31, 2020, and thereafter as a representative of Kenya Airways, said the national airline.
The airline will announce the 2019 financial year results by the end of March.
Meanwhile, Kenya Airways has been granted the green light to introduce three weekly flights connecting Nairobi, with Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv. The airline was previously scheduled to begin this service in March 2019, but due to the political feud between Sudan and Israel, the airline halted its plans with Sudan banning flights to and from Israel from its airspace.
In another development, Kenya Airways woes have deepened after the airline suffered a KSh 800 million loss in one month after suspending flights to China as a precaution against the deadly coronavirus. The national carrier operated the Nairobi-Guangzhou route three times a week before the pandemic spread.