Kenya Airways could retain up to Ksh1 billion on each Boeing 787 Dreamliner D-check by carrying out the heavy maintenance at its Nairobi base instead of outsourcing the work,  Kenyans.co.ke has learnt.

🇰🇪 Breaking It Down

This comes as the national carrier completed two D-checks on its Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners, marking the first time it has undertaken the extensive maintenance process in-house.

Kenya Airways said outsourcing a Boeing 787 D-check costs between $4 million and $8 million, equivalent to about Ksh518 million to Ksh1.04 billion at current exchange rates.

The figure represents the potential cost of having the work performed by an external Maintenance, Repair, and Operations (MRO) provider.

📌 What You Need to Know

A D-check is the most extensive scheduled maintenance performed on an aircraft. It involves stripping down major sections of the aircraft for detailed structural inspections, system checks, component replacement, and modifications.

KQ has so far completed D-checks on aircraft 5Y-KZC and 5Y-KZD, both manufactured in 2014. The airline's Boeing 787 fleet consists of nine aircraft.

The maintenance includes a 12-year structural inspection, functional and operational checks, servicing, seat removal for overhaul, life-limited part replacements, galley and toilet removal, modifications and compliance with airworthiness directives.

The work takes about 33 working days, with KQ deploying about 42 engineers from different technical sections and an average daily input of about 300 man-hours.

A third Dreamliner, 5Y-KZA, is currently undergoing a D-check alongside a landing gear change. KQ expects the aircraft to return to service on September 28, 2026.

Its return will leave only one of KQ's nine Dreamliners on the ground, improving the airline's available wide-body capacity ahead of the October-to-January peak travel period.

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke