Passengers endured long waits while airlines and businesses counted huge losses as a strike by aviation workers paralysed operations at the country’s main airports on Wednesday.
The Kenya Aviation Workers Union (Kawu) members downed their tools protesting against alleged unfair staff hiring, poor remuneration and the proposed takeover of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) operations by Kenya Airways.
Take-off flights were cancelled while no plane had landed at JKIA as of 11 am, with a RwandAir plane that was scheduled to pick up passengers leaving empty.
Most travellers milled around the airport waiting to know the fate of their flights, as the government called in Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) troops to man operations at JKIA.
National carrier Kenya Airways, which is the most heavily affected by the strike, in a court filing said it was losing Sh300 million revenue daily.