Boeing 787 Groundings Continue

Groundings across Kenya Airways’ fleet of Boeing 787s are continuing to drag on, and now changes are being made.

Kenya Airways, as a direct consequence of the inability to operate its whole fleet of Boeing 787s, is being forced to push back the upcoming launch of a landmark service.

Nairobi to Beijing, which had been slated to commence this year, will now not occur; instead, the airline will be forced to push back the launch to 2026 at the earliest.

Kenya Airways, responding to the ongoing inability to get its 787 fleet active, is now being forced to make subsequent route and flying schedule adjustments to cope with the reduced capacity across its business.

What’s Happening With The Boeing 787s?

While the latest route pushback is frustrating, Kenya Airways did only say in August that it hoped to see its currently grounded 787 fleet return to service by the end of the coming year.

This improved view resulted from meaningful discussions surrounding ways to mitigate the impact of the groundings across the business, which had been affecting its bottom line.

These planes have been parked for maintenance, and with supply chain issues emerging over recent years, the timeframe for their return to service has continued to expand.

As a result, Kenya Airways has been unable to get the planes back into service and reported a loss of $94 million for the first half of 2025, a change from the profit posted during the same period the previous year, when the planes were not grounded.

The Kenyan carrier at the time stated that, as a third of its 787 fleet was parked, one of its biggest concerns this year remains the ability to grow passenger revenue.

These maintenance issues all surround the shortcomings related to the lack of parts and other problems with the General Electric engines, which power the aircraft. The airline is not the only one experiencing similar issues and being forced to park Dreamliners.

Additionally, on a broader scale, many airlines around the world are also affected by engine concerns at Pratt & Whitney, which have resulted in A320neo family and A220 jets being parked as well.

The Future Of Kenya Airways

For Kenya Airways, the business is attempting not to let the current obstacles with the 787 fleet affect it too much, instead focusing on the future.

With the knowledge that the 787 Dreamliner will eventually return to active operations in due course, the airline confirmed its intent also in August to dramatically expand the fleet.

Through expansion, the business aims to raise approximately $500 million by the early part of 2026, in an effort to reinforce its fleet. As a result, by the turn of the next decade, the fleet is expected to exceed 50 units.

Shareholder approval will be required, but so too will work to understand fundamentally where this capital will be specifically utilised and where the benefits will be realised in the near future.

However, before any of this can ultimately happen, the business must correct its parked aircraft, which are causing disruptions to its day-to-day operations.