Kenya Airways, east Africa’s heavyweight, has resumed normal operations following a devastating fire outbreak that brought aviation activities to a temporary halt at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi.
The country manager at Kenya Airways Botswana, Juliet Zintambila, told The Telegraph that business was affected, but efforts were made to ensure that passengers reached their various destinations and were well taken care of.
“All our night and day flights to and from Nairobi, Kenya, have resumed,” said Zintambila.
The fire that destroyed the departure and arrival facilities at the airport affected the ability of Kenya Airways and other airlines to provide normal service, which led to closure of the airport and suspension of flights.
“Indeed, we were affected because we were forced to cancel our flights. It was a combination of both day and night flights,” said Zintambila.
Recently Kenya Airways Botswana expanded its network and its frequency with two new night flights to Gaborone, boosting connections between Kenya and Botswana.
She added that losses might have been experienced but at the moment she could not disclose how much. “I will have the actual figures after a full report has been completed,” she said
In a statement, the carrier said the Government of Kenya, through its airports management agency, Kenya Airport Authority, has put in place temporary measures to enable normal operations to take place. These include temporary arrival transit facilities, and passenger holding areas.
It added that domestic flights are now being handled from a temporary terminal in the cargo area. Inter-terminal transport services have also been enhanced through provision of adequate buses as transfer between domestic and international arrival and departure areas takes place through the landside.
At the moment, Kenya Airways’ international departures are being processed out of Unit 3 (formerly domestic) with a few KQ flights including partner/customer airlines processing their departures out of Unit 2.
Since August 9, 2013, Kenya Airways has been operating at 100 percent of its domestic flying schedule while the international operations are at over 85 percent of normal capacity. “We continue to enhance the international flying schedule based on available handling facilities,” the statement said.
The Government of Kenya has announced plans to build a temporary terminal over the next two months, avail more stable temporary arrivals facilities by converting the parking garage under construction into an arrivals lounge by the end of September, and accelerate the construction of the new terminal (Terminal 4) to be ready next year.
