National carrier Kenya Airways (KQ) has put plans to introduce the Boeing 737 MAX passenger aircraft into its fleet on hold for 2026, with the addition of the aircraft now expected in 2027.
The development was revealed by KQ Acting Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Captain George Kamal during the airline's 50th Annual General Meeting held on Friday, June 12.
According to Kamal, the airline opted to slow its fleet expansion plans earlier this year following geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, which triggered a sharp rise in global fuel prices and created uncertainty across the aviation industry.
“We had a very robust plan in place. What we have done for this year is we slowed down once we saw the geopolitical issues and the prices of fuel increasing, which might impact us significantly. We took this decision in February to slow down and move our MAX plan forward to 2027," Kamal stated.
Despite the delay, the acting CEO insisted the airline remains committed to its long-term growth strategy, which aims to significantly expand the fleet over the next decade.
"However, our end goal, we are talking about 2030, we are looking at 60 aircraft in the group and in 2035, we are looking at an ambitious 100 aircraft in total. Not all of them are owned aircraft but we are looking at some owned and some leased; you have to mix both together," he added.
The postponement marks a shift from earlier plans announced by the airline. In August 2025, Viral Tea (our old brand) reported that KQ intended to acquire three Boeing 737 MAX aircraft through a long-term lease arrangement to help address growing passenger demand.
Former CEO Allan Kilavuka had indicated that the aircraft would arrive in early 2026 after earlier delivery timelines were affected by manufacturing delays.
"The aircraft are not ready by Q4, which we were hoping that they would be ready by Q4; we were hoping to bring one in October, the other in November, the other in December. Unfortunately, they will not be ready by that time, so the timeline has moved to Q1 of next year, so the first one will be available in February and then the two others in March," Kilavuka said at the time.
"These will be MAXs, and these will be the ones that will address some of the capacity issues that we have. Q1 is not high season, so it will not immediately address the issues that we have, but it will help us with 2026 capacity."
The Boeing 737 MAX remains one of the most closely scrutinised aircraft models in modern aviation history. The jet was grounded globally in 2019 following two fatal crashes involving Lion Air Flight 610 in Indonesia and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, which crashed shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa while headed to Nairobi.
Following extensive investigations and major software and safety modifications, aviation regulators cleared the aircraft to return to service from late 2020. Since then, airlines around the world have gradually reintroduced the aircraft, which has accumulated millions of flight hours.
Meanwhile, Kenya Airways is focusing on restoring capacity using its existing fleet. Kamal revealed that three Embraer aircraft and two Boeing 787 Dreamliners are currently grounded while awaiting replacement engines. Another Dreamliner is undergoing a major maintenance check in Kenya, the first time such an exercise has been conducted locally.
The airline expects several of the grounded aircraft to return to service between July and August, boosting capacity during the peak travel season.
KQ also announced that one of its 400-seat Boeing 777-300ER aircraft will rejoin operations in July this year and will initially be deployed on the London route to cater to increased summer travel demand.
In addition, the airline plans to introduce onboard Wi-Fi across its fleet and refurbish aircraft cabins as part of efforts to improve customer experience and remain competitive in the market.
Although Kenya Airways posted a Ksh17.2 billion loss in 2025, its management maintained that the airline's core business remains viable. The carrier attributed the loss largely to soaring fuel prices, which significantly increased operating costs and weighed on profitability.
