FOG CAUSES MAJOR DIVERSIONS AND DELAYS AT JKIA IN NAIROBI
(Posted 22nd April 2014)
Foggy weather conditions this morning causes a number of flights destined for Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to divert to Mombasa, while preventing flights also from taking off due to poor visibility below minimum safety requirements. Passengers wanting to leave from Nairobi, and whose inbound plane had to be diverted, may have to wait a while before the back log of flights in and out of JKIA is cleared later this morning.
‘This happens once in a while and when fog moves into the airport it has to shut down for safety reasons. JKIA does not have the technology installed, like airports in Europe or in America. There time is money and they can land planes in almost zero visibility by autopilot which follows the electronic guidance systems. Maybe KAA is thinking of having such modern equipment installed for the new second runway but for now, when there is fog, JKIA becomes un-operational and us airlines have to bear the cost of diversions and flight changes and in bad cases to accommodate passengers who cannot leave from Nairobi or who do not reach Nairobi in case their crew runs out of duty hours while sitting on the ground in Mombasa or Entebbe for instance’.
No information could be obtained by the time of uploading this report how many aircraft had to be diverted, how many inbound and outbound passengers were affected and how many may have to be re-routed and re-booked. No details were forthcoming from KAA either as to when they expected the situation to normalize.
Staff from the Seychelles Tourism Board are now also alert to the situation in Nairobi as they are expecting a number of delegations to connect on Kenya Airways for the flight KQ 450 later this morning to Mahe and it is only hoped that all those heading for the Seychelles Carnival International de Victoria will make it to the island in time.
Watch this space for breaking and regular aviation news from Eastern Africa and the Indian Ocean islands.
