Passengers stranded after strike at main Kenya airport
Hundreds of passengers have been stranded at Kenya’s main airport after workers went on strike in protest at a planned takeover by an Indian business group.
Large queues formed outside Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) on Wednesday morning as flights were delayed and cancelled.
Union leaders on Wednesday evening said they would return to work and that normal operations would resume shortly.
Workers launched their protest over proposals to lease JKIA to the Adani group for 30 years. The aviation workers union argues the deal is “opaque” and could lead to job losses.
The unions agreed to return to work after being given assurances that the deal with Adani would not be finalised without their approval.
The government says the airport in the capital, Nairobi, is operating beyond capacity and needs private investment to upgrade it.
On Wednesday morning, dozens of airport workers blew plastic trumpets and chanted “Adani must go”, according to footage shown on local broadcaster Citizen TV.
The video also appear to show a police officer hitting a protester with a baton.
Wilma van Altena, who was on holiday in Kenya but cut her trip short to return to the Netherlands for a funeral, was among those stuck at the airport.
“It’s been chaotic… there were hundreds of people outside the airport when we arrived and we stood around and eventually made it inside,” she told the BBC.
“We have no information. There’s nothing on the boards, we’ve heard nothing from the airline. I need to get home but I have no idea when that will happen.”
The Zimbabwe men’s football team was also stranded.
The squad had flown into Nairobi after an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier game in Uganda, but had been given no information about their onward flight to Harare, an official who did not want to named told the BBC.
