by Nurat Uthman
Strike by workers at Kenya’s main international airport in Nairobi has caused flight delays and cancellations for incoming and outgoing passengers, Kenya Airways said on Wednesday.
The biggest union of Kenya’s aviation workers said they would take industrial action over a proposed deal for India’s Adani Group to lease Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) for 30 years.
The Kenya Aviation Workers Union said the proposed agreement announced in July would lead to job losses and bring in non-Kenyan workers.
On Wednesday morning, dozens of airport workers blew plastic trumpets and chanted “Adani must go”, according to footage on local broadcaster Citizen TV, which also showed a police officer hitting a protester with a baton.
Kenya’s government has said the airport is operating above capacity and needs modernising but that it is not for sale.
It says that no decision has been made on whether to proceed with what it calls a proposed public-private partnership to upgrade the site.
The Kenya Airports Authority, which is responsible for managing the airport, said minimal operations at JKIA had resumed by 7:00 am (0400 GMT) and it was engaging with relevant parties to normalize the situation.
Videos shared on the social media platform X showed hundreds of passengers queuing outside JKIA’s single terminal after the strike began at midnight on Tuesday.
The strike spread to workers at regional airports in the city’s of Kisumu and Mombasa on Wednesday morning, Kenya’s Nation newspaper reported.
Kenya’s high court on Monday temporarily blocked the Adani proposal, in which the Indian company would build a new runway and upgrade the passenger terminal, to allow time for a judicial review challenging the lease.
