KENYA AIRWAYS AND RWANDAIR PLANES ‘TOUCH’ AT JKIA
Information is starting to emerge from an aviation blog www.Rwandan-Flyer.com that RwandAir’s new B737-700, while taxiing at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, appears to have ‘touched’ wings with a Kenya Airways aircraft, the make of which was not immediately known. While apparently no passengers did come to harm, all of whom were deboarded normally after the incident and returned to the departure lounge to wait for another flight to Kigali, the RwandAir jet’s grounding for the investigation by the Kenya CAA impacted on the subsequent schedules of the airline as the aircraft was unavailable for service in subsequent days.
The B737-700 was only acquired a few weeks ago from European holiday carrier TuiFly with a second such aircraft due to join the RwandAir fleet shortly, as the two older B737-500 which were leased, are being returned to the lessors at the end of their contract period.
There is no present confirmation on the level of damage either aircraft sustained or when the two birds will return to service for their respective airlines. Both Kenya Airways and RwandAir a few months ago signed a comprehensive cooperation agreement which covers such issues as codeshares, cooperation on handling and training but also aligning their respective frequent flyer programmes. Neither airline has made a public statement as yet and the local media in Kenya and Rwanda have up to now not reported the incident.
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