A number of flights were delayed while some passengers missed their trips after a section of aviation workers went on strike on Monday morning at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).
Dozens of passengers complained they remained stranded even after checking in following the strike.
Other passengers reported that that check-in process was taking as long as three hours.
The drama started from as early as 5 am on Monday September 2.
“The transfer desk is overwhelmed because one machine has broken down and no one is here to help us,” said one passenger.
The aviation workers under the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) on Monday held a demonstration at JKIA.
There was no immediate comment from KAA management.
Armed with placards, the workers condemned a Public Private Partnership (PPP) that will see Indian-based Adani Group Holdings take over operations at East Africa’s leading airport.
They vowed to continue with the strike on Tuesday promising it will be worse for the airport users.
“This will extend to other areas. We are testing to see what comes next,” said the workers.
KAA staff argue that the Adani deal poses a risk to their jobs in favour of foreign workers.
The aviation workers held the demonstrations despite an announcement from the Kenya Aviation Workers Union (KAWU) Secretary General Moses Ndiema, who laid a seven-day postponement of workers strike in order to ‘review the lease deal.
Ndiema later joined the protesters.
President William Ruto has in the past defended the planned deal despite resistance from the workers.
“Let’s be honest Kenyans, the airport we have in Nairobi is made of canvas. This is a temporary structure we built almost 7 years ago. Ethiopia have a brand new airport. Rwanda the same. It is the reason why we need to work with investors to have a new airport in Nairobi,” Ruto said.
The workers are opposed to the proposed takeover of running of JKIA by the Indian firm Adani Group.
The union is further demanding all stakeholder engagements on the deal be stopped as they take time to read the documents presented by the government.
This comes as the Kenyan delegation led by senior managers of the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) is scheduled to visit India on a fact-finding mission.
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 modernising JKIA could cost $2 billion, which the government was “constrained to fund due to the tight fiscal situation”.
Transport Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir while appearing before Parliament for vetting defended the Sh246 billion deal with the Indian firm over the expansion and takeover of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport insisting that it is beneficial to the country.
“This is an off-balance sheet upgrade of the Kenya Airports Authority. If we can’t do it as the government, can we allow a private sector player to do it at a reasonable or competitive cost and return on investment?” Chirchir said.
But KAWU has dismissed the assertions by the government insisting that the role of refurbishing the airport should be taken up by KAA.
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