Regional carriers bear brunt of Kenya aviation workers’ strike

Hundreds of travellers around East Africa were stranded Wednesday while others had their travel schedules disrupted due to the strike that paralysed Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) before it was called off in the evening.

RwandAir, Ethiopian and Ugandan Airlines had all advised their guests to await information as flights into and out of Nairobi were grounded.

RwandAir announced immediate cancellations while Uganda Airlines issued a statement warning of “possible delays and disruptions in its regional flight schedule.”Ethiopian regretted the inconvenience caused by a staff strike at the Nairobi’s JKIA and said it was “closely monitoring the situation and working to minimise the impact on our passengers.”The regulator, Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA), issued a Notice to Airmen (Notam), warning of continual flight disruptions for departures and arrivals, and asked pilots to expect delays on their schedules.

In its travel update, RwandaAir said it had cancelled its flights “due to the ongoing strike by airport staff at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.” The flights in question were WB452/WB453 KGL/NBO/KGL on Wednesday.“All affected passengers will be rebooked on the next available flights. We apologise for any inconvenience caused,” the carrier announced on X, formerly Twitter.“Adani dealThe disruptions left several travellers stranded at Entebbe and Kigali airports. Uganda Airlines flies twice daily from Entebbe to Nairobi while RwandAir operates three flights to Nairobi out of Kigali daily. Ethiopian operates four daily flights, in and out of Nairobi.

Kenya Airways, whose hub is JKIA, continued to operate some local and regional flights, including from Entebbe as workers downed tools. However, Moi International Airport in Mombasa, Kisumu International and Eldoret airports were also disrupted, forcing local carriers such as Jambojet to suspend flights.

The airport workers union announced the strike from midnight on Wednesday after it emerged that the Kenya government proposes to lease JKIA to Indian conglomerate Adani Group for 30 years, with the union fearing the transaction would lead to job losses.

On Tuesday, Kenya’s High Court temporarily suspended the proposed plans to lease the airport till October 8, when a hearing of the case would be fixed. The case was filed by the Kenya Human Rights Commission and the Law Society of Kenya challenging the proposed lease, which the High Court certified as urgent.

In a statement on Wednesday JKIA management apologised for the inconvenience caused by the strike but said minimal operations had resumed, as the authorities engage relevant parties to normalise operations.

The development comes as regional consumer protection watchdog, the Comesa Competition Commission, this week launched an investigation into how airlines treat the travellers who are affected by flight delays and cancellations.