Kenya Airways on Tuesday announced that its pretax loss for last year had tripled to Sh36.57 billion following the adverse effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the travel industry.

KQ, which is partly owned by Air France’s KLM, indicated that its revenue went down by more than half during that pandemic year due to lockdown measures that cut passengers.

The national carrier that is no longer the pride of Africa also said its cargo volumes also plunged during that period, as KQ grounded some planes resulting in reduced belly space.

The national airline’s basic loss per share, however, increased to Sh6.22 in 2020 from Sh2.23 the previous year, KQ said.