UK's ban on Mirraa cost Kenya Airways 500m

In its latest financial report, Kenya Airways established that the ban by the United Kingdom government on khat (mirraa) cost the airline a whooping 500 million.

The airline which was already suffering major losses was thrown into deeper losses since it was transporting some 2000 tonnes of khat to Britain before the ban.

"A major shift in the product freight structure was encountered in the financial year with the khat ban imposed In the UK, this had a revenue reduction impact of sh. 500 million."Says KQ chief executive Mbuvi Ngunze.

As at March 2015, KQ had recorded a net loss of Sh26 billion.

The airline said that the mirraa shipment accounted for 10 per ecent of its total cargo revenue which is equivalent to Sh860 million.

It cited tourism slump and ebola epidemic in West Africa as reasons for the big net loss.

In a move to bring back the airline to its feet, the government bailed out KQ with 60 billion while at the same time demanding major changes in its management structure.

City tycoon Chris Kirubi is also among businessmen who have bought KQ shares to bring stability to the airline. He bought 2.1 million shares worth 11.5 million.

Kirubi said it was a sign of patriotism to prevent KQ from crashing.