MASSIVE FINES LOOM FOR AIRLINES AS KCAA SEEKS TO PUNISH DELAYS AND FLIGHT CANCELLATIONS
(Posted 06th September 2017)
Fines of up to 1 million Kenya Shillings could hit airlines subjecting their passengers to delays and flight cancellations, should the proposed changes in air service regulations, initiated by the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority, be confirmed after the present stakeholder reviews which end on the 21st of September.
Consultations took place already in July over 2 days and the draft regulations are presently being reviewed with the aim to find final wordings and gauge the industry’s reactions to the proposed fines.
International airlines flying to Kenya could under the present proposals face up to half a million Kenya Shillings in a fine for a first case while subsequent cases might then attract the full million Kenya Shillings. Locally registered airlines, under the same circumstances, would be subject to a first case fine of 300.000 Kenya Shillings, set to raise for repeat cases to 600.000 Kenya Shillings.
Notably, on the side of consumer protection for special needs passengers, where an air carrier is in breach of the proposed new regulations or fails to provide the services or necessary facilities after his or her ticket has been issued the consumer with special needs shall be compensated an equivalent of 200 per cent of the value of the travel ticket in addition to any entitlements provided for under these. There have been numerous cases cited in Kenya’s local and social media of passengers being treated almost inhumanely and even barred from boarding, notably by certain low cost carriers, something the new proposed regulations intend to punish. The draft regulations further state that an airline or airline staff who fail to comply with these regulations within the prescribed period commits an offence and shall be liable, on conviction, to a fine not exceeding two million shillings or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or to both, for each offence.This particular element in the draft regulations will no doubt jolt airlines guilty of such passenger rights infringements into action as few CEO’s will fancy the prospect of a jail term.
A wide range of other regulatory changes are also part of the present review with the aim of updating Air Service Regulations and bring them in line with not only international requirements but also to reflect the changing face of aviation in Kenya.
