KQ bird strike, tyre burst disrupt multiple flights

Multiple Kenya Airways flights delayed Tuesday after a bird strike and a tyre burst affected operations of the national carrier.

The flights, mainly to Mombasa and Ukunda, included those of its budget subsidiary Jambojet. Passengers booked on the flights were delayed for several hours with the carrier’s customer service citing technical faults.

An inflight announcement on one of the KQ planes said “there was a major engine problem on the flight we were to take which has taken longer to fix than expected.”

This came after Kenya Airways flight KQ41 from Entebbe reported a tyre burst as it landed at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. The plane caused a two-hour disruption of traffic at the airport.

The airline said in statement that all guests were disembarked and there were no injuries. The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) said the flight delays could have been the result of a backlog created by the two mishaps reported by the national carrier.

“KCAA regularly audits KQ for compliance. Incidents like this are always investigated and investigations are already ongoing,” said Gilbert Kibe, the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority Director-General.

“The delay from the incident creates a domino effect. It may take 24 to 48 hours for the schedule to normalise,” he added.

Earlier in the month traffic at the Mombasa International Airport was temporarily disrupted following a runway mishap involving a military aircraft. Regular activities at the airport however resumed after hours of closure.

This resulted in the delay of several airlines including KQ and Fly540, while RwandAir said it had to divert its WB 303 Dubai-Mombasa flight to Nairobi after circling around Mombasa airport.

“We aim to operate flights on time however, there are sometimes disturbances to our process. They are caused by various things such as runway or airspace closure, a technical issue in the aircraft, a delay from another destination (for example aircraft delayed in Mombasa could be operating to Kisumu),” said KQ in a statement.

The airline also cancelled its flights to Kinshasa Tuesday due to unrest in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Kenya Airways reported a net loss of Sh26.2 billion in the full year to March 2016 compared to last year’s Sh25.7 billion, both records in corporate Kenya. The company’s net worth receded to negative Sh35.6 billion from the previous year’s negative Sh5.9 billion.

KQ has moved to reduce its fleet by selling aircraft and sub-leasing others in a bid to cut operating costs. It has also let go of scores of employees including pilots, besides terminating some routes.

Two B787-8s are to be sub-leased to Oman Air for an undisclosed number of years, bringing the total number of aircraft seconded to the Muscat-based carrier to four.

Three B777-300ER will be sub-leased to Turkish Airlines for an undisclosed period, raising the number of airplanes sent to the Istanbul-based carrier to six.

The national carrier also plans to sell two B777-200ERs and return two E170s (Embraers) to their owners at the end of their lease period.

The mix of aircraft sub-leasing, sales and non-renewal of leasing will discharge a total of nine aeroplanes from its fleet, shrinking it to 38 units.