Kenya Airways Announces Comeback Of 3 Grounded Aircraft

National airline Kenya Airways (KQ) has announced that three of its flagship Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft that were grounded since last year are set to return to service.

Kenya Airways, the country’s national carrier and part of the SkyTeam alliance, flies Boeing 787 Dreamliners, popular for their fuel efficiency on long-distance routes.

However, the airline has been hit hard by the grounding of several of these planes, mainly due to maintenance problems with their GEnx engines and broader supply chain shortages affecting the aviation sector.

In a statement released on Monday, July 14, KQ revealed that the three Dreamliner aircraft were grounded due to industry supply chain constraints as well as engine availability. One of the aircraft is, however, set for a comeback very soon, on July 22, 2025.

"This is a significant milestone for our fleet and operations. The return of the Dreamliner will not only alleviate the capacity constraints that had shrunk by 20% due to the grounding but also enhance our capacity back to 85%, ensuring a smoother travel experience for our customers," the statement reads in part.

KQ goes on to add that it anticipates the second Dreamliner to return to operations on September 25, 2025, and the third one by December 19, 2025. 

"With safety as the cornerstone of our operations and travel demand surging during this time, we are eager to provide our passengers with additional capacity and comfort. We look forward to welcoming travellers back aboard our Dreamliner.

"I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to the Kenya Airways technical team and our partners for their unwavering dedication and diligent efforts in getting this aircraft back into service. Your hard work is truly appreciated," added the statement by CEO Allan Kilavuka.

The KQ boss, however, assured that the airline was doing everything possible to resolve the issues quickly for the sake of the convenience and comfort of its passengers, despite the recent challenges, including flight delays, cancellations, and schedule changes.

He emphasised that the issues have harmed the travel plans of passengers, something he committed to addressing promptly.

"These issues have been exacerbated by delays in acquiring necessary parts, which have kept some planes grounded longer than anticipated. However, we are optimising our network and addressing any concerns that arise promptly," he continued.

As per data from Cirium, Kenya Airways had 1,723 scheduled flights and 227,554 seats from Nairobi to about 37 destinations as of December 2023. This was about 241 more flights than in December 2022 but 339 fewer than in December 2019.

On July 25, 2023, KQ and Lufthansa Technik AG signed a long-term contract for the supply of aircraft components for the long-haul, Boeing 787-8 fleet, a contract which allows KQ to receive the proven Total Component Support (TCS) from the Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) specialist until 2028. It also gives KQ access to Lufthansa Technik's worldwide parts pool, which will enable the national carrier to significantly increase the availability of spare parts for the Dreamliner fleet cost-effectively.

KQ has a total of nine Dreamliners, the second highest behind the Embraer E190 with 15.

President William Ruto jets into Beijing, China aboard a Kenya Airways plane on September 2, 2024. /PCS