KENYA AIRWAYS TAKES FRESH LOOK AT WEST AFRICA FLIGHTS AFTER WHO WARNING
(Posted 14th August 2014)
Following reports that several members of parliament in Nairobi had demanded that national airline Kenya Airways halt flights to West African countries affected by the current Ebola outbreak has the airline confirmed that a new risk assessment will be made and that the decision to continue flights be reviewed. A decision will likely be announced later today (Thursday) and details will be reported here as soon as information has become available whether the airline will remain on the routes or follow the likes of British Airways and Emirates which have already stopped flights last week.
The announcement by KQ comes hot on the heels of the World Health Organization, very likely prompted by the continued flights, declaring Kenya a high risk country. A number of other African airlines however continue to fly to the affected countries after similar to Kenya Airways taking extra precautions for ground staff and crews and introducing a screening process for passengers and IATA in a statement earlier this week also made it clear that the risk of infection is considered extremely low.
Earlier in the week was a passenger from West Africa admitted to the Kenyatta National Hospital’s isolation unit but later cleared when the tests conducted showed no trace of the virus.
WHO has added Kenya to the Level 2 countries on their list for Ebola risk, with the affected countries (Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea and Nigeris) on a Level 1 alert. Social media interactions over the past few days have become increasingly vocal about the issue and some passengers who allegedly arrived from West Africa via Cairo have added to the general concerns when they mentioned an absence of screening staff at Nairobi’s main airport.
The Kenya Airport Authority in conjunction with Kenya Airways and the Ministry of Health have however instituted measures to screen all passengers arriving on flights directly from the affected countries and the staff at the national referral hospital KNH, where an isolation unit has been set up, have undergone special training.
West Africa is a key battleground for African airlines pitted against the Gulf giants for traffic to India and the Far and South East and both Ethiopian Airlines and Kenya Airways see the key West African markets as a major revenue generator. Said a regular aviation source from Nairobi when discussing the issue yesterday: ‘The real question which has to be asked is if the world community is ready to affect a total travel ban from and to the affected countries until the outbreak has run its course. While people can still cross land borders over panya routes [A Kiswahili expression for using illegal border
crossings] at least they would no longer be able, if infected and no signs showing at the time, to fly to any point in the world and then fall ill there with the potential of creating new Ebola outbreaks in places which are perhaps not prepared for it. If there is a global ban of course every airline will stop flying but until that is done, the choices are with the airlines and their respective governments. If our government would tell KQ to stop flights they will of course. It is a hard choice to make and either way there will be much criticism after all of this is over’.
Watch this space for breaking and regular aviation news from across Eastern Africa.
