Why Kenya Airways diverted flights at JKIA 

Kenya Airways (KQ) diverted flights to other airports on Saturday night due to heavy rains and poor visibility at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).

In a statement, the national carrier also warned of possible delays in departures from JKIA due to poor visibility caused by torrential rain on Saturday night.

“Due to the heavy rains and poor visibility in Nairobi, we have diverted a number of our flights, which may lead to extended delays for some of our departures out of Nairobi,” KQ said.

The airline apologised for the inconvenience caused but stressed that safety remains its top priority.

“We apologise for the inconvenience caused to our customers. The safety and well-being of our crew and customers is our number one priority,” it added.

The flight disruption came at the same time as the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) announced that all vehicles must use the main gate at JKIA to enter and exit the airport indefinitely.

In a statement on Sunday, the KAA said that persistent heavy rains in Nairobi had led to flooding at JKIA’s Tower Avenue underpass.

“Normal flight operations at the airport are still ongoing and access to all terminals remains available. However, due to the situation, traffic is expected to be heavier than normal. We recommend that all vehicles use the main entrance to enter and exit the airport until further notice,” the statement read in part.

According to KAA, security teams and police have cordoned off the affected area to ensure the safety of all airport users and staff.

KAA’s Managing Director, Henry Kegoye, said that recent leaks in airport roofs were due to ongoing refurbishment works, with further infrastructure improvements scheduled through June 2024.

“Works commenced in March 2024 for three (3) months. In recent days, heavy rains in Nairobi have adversely affected the temporary drainage infrastructure constructed on site by the contractor, causing the current leakages at the terminal,” he said.

“We sincerely appreciate your understanding and cooperation as we diligently manage this situation.”

On Friday, travellers found themselves in a dilemma with some essential services getting stuck due to the heavy rain.

Some roofs at the airport are also leaking, causing operations of the Terminal 1C that serves the Qatar, Lufthansa, Ethiopia, Turkish and Rwanda international airlines to halt.

In November 2023, Mr Ogoye said that plans to commence refurbishment works on the JKIA face-lift will begin in the current financial year.

The announcement comes after a video emerged online of a leaking roof at the airport’s check-in section following heavy rains that continued to pound various parts of the country.

“The government has commenced the process of addressing infrastructure development of the facility covering expansion of passenger terminal, runway capacity and provision of additional aircraft parking bays beginning this financial year 2023/2024,” said Ogoye.

Roads and Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen at the time said that JKIA was set to undergo a makeover as the government seeks to improve service delivery and customer experience to make it competitive with other airports in the East African region and beyond.

Mr Murkomen, however, did not disclose how much the improvements will cost the government. He said JKIA, the country’s premier airport, deserved to be on par with the best airports in the world.

At the heart of the planned improvements is a service charter that brings together all the agencies operating at JKIA under one roof to provide “seamless” services to passengers.

“We are committed to ensuring that JKIA becomes the airport with the best service delivery to our customers in the world,” said CS Murkomen who spoke during a meeting with a multi-agency team of senior KAA and JKIA managers among others at the facility.