Kenyans in the United Kingdom will have to wait a little longer to come home after a flight from London to Nairobi was cancelled.
The flight was scheduled to leave London to Nairobi on Saturday, April 25 after negotiations between the British High Commission and the Government of Kenya.
A statement issued by the Kenyan High Commission in UK on Friday, April 24 revealed reasons for the flight being cancelled.
The flight was cancelled owing to strict rules which require that all arriving passengers must be Covid-19 free.
The flight ticket was supposed to cost each passenger Ksh 56,000, inclusive of Covid-19 tests in London before being allowed to board, with those having small children required to pay an extra charge of Ksh 5,600.
The statement added that the guidelines in UK further complicated the flight, "COVID-19 tests in the UK are administered only to those who are sick and are admitted to the hospital."
"Passengers are, therefore, unable to take tests to prove that they do not have Coronavirus. We continue to work to find a way that passengers can be tested before travel," the communication stated.
The statement further noted that should the flight materialise, it will be for those in dire need of travelling back home, "We must emphasize that we have authority from cooperating governments to facilitate flights for only stranded passengers.
"We encourage other Kenyans in the diaspora to remain where they are until such a time when the lockdown is lifted, and air travel and air space is open," read the statement in part.
The flight that was supposed to bring back Kenyans landed in London on Friday, April 24 with over 100 passengers.
Kenyans across the globe were left stranded due to the cancellation of inbound and outbound passenger flights within the Kenyan airspace on Wednesday, March 25.
