Major airlines warned of delays and cancelation of flights in the wake of the airport workers’ strike, which kicked off on Tuesday night at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi.
Kenya Airways (KQ) and Jambojet who are the main operators at the JKIA warned travellers of flight delays and possible cancellations.
“Kenya Airways would like to alert you that due to the action by some JKIA staff, this has resulted in some delays and possible cancellations of some of our flights for both departing and arriving passengers,” KQ said in a Wednesday morning notice to customers.
“We continue to observe the situation and will update you on the affected flights.
Jambojet also said there were cancellations of their flights.
“Jambojet wishes to notify guests of flight disruptions due to the ongoing strike by airport workers. All our flights, scheduled to land and take off from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) are hereby on hold until further notice.”
“We therefore recommend that you hold your journey to the airport schedule until we publish the new schedule. We apologize for the inconvenience caused and thank you for your patience and understanding,” a notice said.
The Kenya Aviation Workers Union (KAWU) downed their tools overnight in protest of the plan to lease Kenya’s main airport to India’s Adani Group for 30 years for a $1.85 billion Sh246 billion investment.
There were chaotic scenes at JKIA early Wednesday with photos and videos shared on social media showing hordes of passengers trying to get their baggage amid a go-slow at the airport’s entry points.
While President William Ruto’s government has defended the deal as necessary to refurbish JKIA, the airport workers warn the plan poses risks of job losses.
JKIA is the main gateway into Kenya and is the busiest airport in East Africa, handling 8.8 million passengers and 380,000 tonnes of cargo in 2022-23.
It is the hub of Kenya Airways, which it serves alongside other such airlines as Emirates, Turkish Airways, British Airways and Ethiopian Airlines.
The Indian firm has proposed to upgrade the airport, including the construction of a second runway and a new passenger terminal under a 30-year lease.
In the Sh246 billion deal, the Gautam Adani-owned Indian firm would upgrade the airport, including the construction of a second runway and a new passenger terminal, under a 30-year-build-operate-transfer (BOT) contract.
The firm will also be expected to carry out renovations and refurbishments to the airport.
It will also be responsible for the development and operation of JKIA- Kenya’s largest aviation facility and East Africa’s busiest airport.
The government has defended the deal insisting that JKIA was stretched beyond its capacity of 7.5 million passengers a year and urgently needed improvements.
The statement said modernizing JKIA could cost $2 billion, which the government was “constrained to fund due to the tight fiscal situation”.
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