Kenya Airways decides not to cancel flights to West Africa

Kenya Airways has decided not to give in to mounting public pressure to stop flights to nations in West Africa battling an outbreak of Ebola.

Outgoing chief executive Titus Naikuni on Thursday announced that, on the guidance of experts and relevant agencies, the airline would continue its flights to all four nations hit by the epidemic.

He was speaking at a Thursday afternoon press conference held jointly with the Health and Transport ministries and the Kenya Airports Authority.

"The management of Kenya Airways does not see a major risk that warrants stopping operations into the region," Naikuni said.

"This means we will continue with our flights while reviewing the position on a daily basis. Further, we wish to confirm that in the interest of public safety... we reserve the right to cancel our flights should the situation warrant (doing so)."

He argued that five other international airlines, including American giant Delta Air Lines, are still flying to Liberia because they have been advised by their respective countries to maintain the route.

"We are not after money. We are doing what we are doing because of the advice we have received. Kenya Airways is a responsible corporate citizen, we will not in any way put this country to danger either by our own operations or by collusion," said Mr Naikuni.

He added that the revenues from the West Africa routes are significant but "contrary to what many have said, it is not half of what we get, not even a quarter. It is far less than that."

Transport secretary Michael Kamau, who was also at the media briefing, said: "Delta Air Lines is flying from Monrovia to the United States; and from the way I know the (US) National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) takes issues of safety very seriously."

Health secretary James Macharia said the government was establishing a committee to manage the crisis and would send two doctors to Liberia and Sierra Leone on a fact-finding mission. Kenya Airways officials will be part of the team travelling to those countries.

The Nairobi-based airline has 44 scheduled flights a week to ten West African cities, which include Conakry in Guinea, where the epidemic first broke out in March this year, Abuja and Lagos in Nigeria, Monrovia in Liberia and Freetown in Sierra Leone.

As of Wednesday, the death toll from the incurable haemorrhagic fever in the four countries stood at 1,069 people. The World Health Organisation said 128 new cases and 56 deaths were reported between August 10 and August 11 alone.

WHO also said Kenya was at high risk for the spread of Ebola due to the 76 flights a week linking it to the affected West African nations.

READ: World Health Organisation marks Kenya as Ebola high-risk zone.

South African Airlines, which flies into Lagos, recently also said it would not suspend flights to the region. Its other West African destinations are not affected by the crisis. However, Dubai’s Emirates, Nigeria’s Arik Air, the United Kingdom’s British Airways and Germany’s Lufthansa have all stopped flights into one or more affected countries.

The Kenya Airways announcement came about an hour after the close of trade at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), where the airline has its primary listing. Shares in the stock were last quoted at Sh10.45, unchanged from Wednesday’s close.

Kenya Airways, one of the leading airlines in Africa, is 26.73 per cent owned by Air France-KLM and 29.8 per cent by the Kenyan government. The company’s shares are listed on the NSE and the Uganda and Dar es Salaam stock exchanges.

Earlier, the Kenya Medical Association expressed concern that Ebola screening at JKIA was “just a public relations exercise” saying there were too many loopholes to mitigate the risk posed by the disease. Several Members of Parliament have called for all flights from affected countries to be cancelled.

Kenya is one of about 35 countries that are one plane ride away from Ebola-hit nations. Only two, Cote d’Ivoire and Saudi Arabia, have resorted to blanket bans of all flights as a result of the epidemic.

A Wednesday afternoon notice by Naikuni had seemed to suggest that Kenya Airways might stop some of its flights.

READ: Kenya Airways rethinking West Africa bound flights.

Meanwhile, Korean Air will halt flights to and from Nairobi from Wednesday next week (August 20) over the risk of spreading Ebola. The airline said it had been operating three return flights a week from Incheon, a city in the country’s northwest. Officials said they would determine whether to resume the flights “based on a change in conditions”. They did not elaborate.

Ebola causes severe fever and, in the worst cases, unstoppable bleeding. It is transmitted through close contact with bodily fluids, so people who live with or care for patients are most at risk.

WHO, the International Air Travel Association and International Civil Aviation Organisation this week said that the risks to ordinary travellers are not high enough to warrant travel restrictions. “There should be no general ban on international travel or trade," WHO has advised.

Additional reporting by Aggrey Mutambo.