Kenya Airways cancels night flights over pilots strike

Kenya Airways has cancelled all its Thursday night flights due to disruptions caused by the ongoing pilots strike.

A statement from the airline said all the night flights except domestic ones to the coastal city of Mombasa would remain cancelled until 0200hrs.

The cancellations came after some pilots failed to turn up for work, inconveniencing passengers who were due to depart to various destinations across the world.

The Kenya Airline Pilots Association (Kalpa), whose membership is about 500 pilots, had vowed to down their tools in protest of alleged mismanagement on the part of Kenya Airways, one of the largest carriers in Africa.

The pilots said Kenya Airways CEO Mbuvi Ngunze's efforts to turn around the airline would not be successful while accusing the airline's management of being responsible for the woes affecting the national carrier.

The airline's flights to Dar es Salaam, Kilimanjaro, Lusaka and Zanzibar including Johannesburg, Yaoundé, Jeddah, Entebbe, Addis Ababa and Kinshasa were among those cancelled.

The airline said it was in constant contacts communication with its customers on the mitigating measures for the cancelled flights.

The industrial action continues despite a court order Kenya Airways obtained on Wednesday, stopping pilots from going on strike from Thursday until the case is heard and determined.

(APD)