KENYA AIRWAYS SUES KENYA AIRPORT AUTHORITY FOR COMPENSATION
(Posted 13th August 2014)
Claims from the August 07th fire last year by Kenya Airways, amounting to nearly 3.8 million US Dollars, sent to the Kenya Airport Authority, appear to have been ignored, prompting the airline to file suit in the High Court in Nairobi to get their money back.
The amount, in local currency over 330 million Kenya Shillings, is the accumulated cost incurred by the national airline for flight reroutings, passenger care – hundreds of booked travelers had to be put up in hotels at the carrier’s expense – loss of equipment and other subsequent expenses incurred.
When the fire broke out, going by the report submitted to government by the insurance assessors and a team of independent fire investigators, the response was slow, uncoordinated, fire hydrants were dry, fire alarms failed and the absence of a sprinkler system and the use of building materials not fire resistant all contributed to the rapid spread of the blaze which eventually consumed the entire arrivals block and adjoining offices, shops and lounges.
It is understood that other businesses which saw their premises destroyed during the fire or had to incur expenses, other airlines included, are now considering similar steps, or else are insurance companies which have paid out compensation to their individual clients, seeking to be reimbursed for such payments.
KAA now has a limited timeframe available to file a formal response and defense to the suit brought and can only hope that their own insurance cover will be sufficient to pay for it all after refusing to accept liability in the face of the inevitable. Wrote a regular aviation source from the airport: ‘They should just face up and pay. The fire report is damning and gives them no room to deny their liability and responsibility. The investigators pointed out a lot of failures on the part of KAA and if a life had been lost it would surely be criminal negligence and murder charges could be pressed. They were just plain lucky there were no casualties. With all this, only the lawyers will get fat paydays and KAA in the end will have to cough up the money anyway. Imagine, their biggest client, Kenya Airways, suing them in court, that cannot be good for proper working relations surely?’.
Time will tell how this pans out so keep watching this space for breaking and regular news updates from Eastern Africa’s aviation industry.
