KAAO, AFRAA and KTF Raise Safety Concerns Over Kenya Air Traffic Services Industrial Action, Citing Absent Contingency Plans
Why It MattersThe dispute exposes gaps in contingency planning at a continental aviation hub, raising the risk of recurring disruption to connectivity, trade and tourism across Africa's air transport network.
The Kenya Airports Operators Association (KAAO), the African Airlines Association (AFRAA) and the Kenya Tourism Federation (KTF) issued a joint statement raising safety concerns over industrial action by Kenya's air traffic services workers that disrupted operations at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) and other Kenyan airports, causing flight delays, cancellations, diversions, rerouting and prolonged holding for passengers, crews, cargo and airlines. The organisations said operators were not briefed on an activated contingency plan, and delayed issuance of the relevant NOTAM cut the time available to revise flight plans, fuel loads, alternates, crew rosters and passenger arrangements.
The three bodies noted that Regulation 40 of the Kenya Civil Aviation (Air Traffic Services) Regulations requires the air traffic services authority to develop and promulgate contingency plans coordinated with airspace users and adjacent ATS authorities, and said the disruption was foreseeable given similar industrial action on 16–17 February 2026. KAAO's preliminary assessment of that February action, covering 16 operators, recorded 150 flight cancellations, 382 delays and approximately USD 5.1 million in direct losses, excluding diversions, crew disruption, network-recovery costs and wider effects on tourism, trade and medical operations.
KAAO Chief Executive Officer Liz Aluvanze said operators, crews and passengers should not carry the burden of a foreseeable disruption when timely notices and tested contingency measures should have been in place. AFRAA Secretary General Abdérahmane Berthé said Kenya's role as a continental aviation hub means disruptions are felt beyond its borders, affecting connectivity, trade and travellers across Africa's aviation network, and joined the call for urgent resolution. The three organisations called on the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority, Kenya Airports Authority, the Kenya Aviation Workers Union, the Government and other stakeholders to resolve the dispute, activate effective contingency measures and restore confidence in Kenya's air transport system.
