Hundreds of passengers were stranded at Nairobi's JKIA airport on Wednesday morning following workers' strike.
All the morning flights to and from the airport were disrupted as the aviation workers began their strike with JKIA bound flights being diverted to other airports.
One flight was diverted to Moi International Airport Mombasa and another Kilimanjaro International Airport in Tanzania.
Sources indicated that the workers grounded all flights since 3am leaving hundreds of passengers stranded.
This is despite Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) declaring the strike suspended.
Reports indicate that the airport workers are aggrieved over a row with the board of management.
The workers are also opposing the merger plan between KAA and Kenya Airways (KQ).
A Rwanda Air plane that was supposed to pick up passengers for a summit in Rwanda was forced to leave empty.
The Kenya Aviation Workers Union (KAWU) leaders addressed the press at 7:40am indicating that they were equally aggrieved by the corruption and mismanagement by senior officials at the airport.
They further demanded that Labour Cabinet Secretary (CS) Ukur Yattani should personally go to the airport to address them.
Following the strike, Kenya Airways (KQ) advised customers on KQ 100 to London, KQ 116 to Amsterdam and KQ 210 to Mumbai to proceed to check-in.
"Further to the strike by KAWU members, we expect disruptions on flights. Customers on flights after 11am are advised not to come to the airport until further communication is shared. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused," KQ stated in a tweet.
Updates:
8:20am: GSU officers deployed at JKIA to disperse the striking workers.
8:25am: KAWU Secretary-General Moses Ndiema arrested as anti-riot police lob teargas to disperse striking JKIA workers.
8:27am: At least 6 airport workers including flight attendants sustain serious injuries as the police engage them in running battles.
9:11am: Fire engines from the national police deployed to the airport after the airport workers withdraw the airport's fire trucks from the runway.
9:30am: Transport CS James Macharia arrives at the airport and addresses members of the press.
9:42am: CS Macharia assures that the operations would resume to normalcy and the first flight would leave within an hour.
10:40am: Kenya Airways announces that flights to Amsterdam and London also scheduled to depart at 10:45am and 11:06am respectively.
9:48am: Kenya Air Force personnel including pilots, engineers, and air traffic control staff deployed at JKIA to normalize operations at the airport. GSU and KDF officers continue taking charge of the airport's security.
9:58am: KQ CEO Sebastian Mikosz tells passengers whose flights were disrupted by the Kenya Aviation Workers strike to rebook or reroute them at no extra cost.
