Kenya’s national carrier Kenya Airways (KQ) has narrowed its losses to $47 million in the first six months to September from $117 million reported a similar period last year.

The improvement was attributed to a 3.3 per cent growth in cabin factor – the rate of flight occupancy – during the period, with an increase of passenger numbers by 89,000 to 2.2 million, and lower operating costs made possible by fleet rationalisation.

“We have also seen our gross profit rise by 56.6 per cent to $9.49 million up from an operating loss of $22 million a year earlier, as a result of savings and our ability to maintain the operating costs low,” the airline’s chief executive Mbuvi Ngunze said, adding that KQ had so far implemented 242 out of the 555 initiatives set out in its recovery plan.

The airline saw its overheads rise 14.5 percent to $125 million attributed to the cost of the restructuring plan which it hopes will drive it out of the red.

“Good things are happening at KQ but if you stood outside and read the newspapers, you would think we’re not operating. KQ has continued to be resilient despite these challenges managing to achieve improved results. We're in a marathon and not a sprint and it is beginning to bear fruit,” Mr Ngunze said.

In the first half of 2016/17 year, KQ had a one-off cash injection of $17 million from sale of assets. The airline also saw its passenger numbers grow by 4.2 per cent to a total of 2.2 million, while its traffic across Africa grew by 14 per cent.