A major fire has broken out at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi (JKIA) affecting parts of the International Arrivals building and Unit 1 departures. The fire is under control and all passengers have been evacuated safely.
The airport has been closed till further notice and all flights have been re-routed to nearby airports. We will update you as soon as we have more information.
August 9 Updates
Kenya Airports Authority: Operations have resumed at #JKIA with both domestic and International departure and arrival functions operational. We continue to advise passengers to confirm their flight schedules with their respective airlines before making their way to the airport.
Our Flight Information Display System (FIDS) servers were unfortunately affected by the #JKIAFire , to this end, passengers can use other online resources such as the Flightradar24 (Linked) to help track their flights until we have the system back up on our website, we also invite passengers to call our flight information desks on +254-020-822390 or +254-020-82230 Exts. 5214, 5203, 5167.
We want to reassure international and local passengers that while they may experience some level of discomfort and delays during travel, KAA is working with all the airport stakeholders to ensure their safety and security, while restoring normal operations as soon as possible.
An official statement will be made during the course of the day to give an update on the operational situation on the ground. We thank you for all the support you have accorded us during this time.
August 8 Updates
Statement by Cabinet Secretary, Transport & Infrastructure on Jomo Kenyatta International Airport Fire
Following the damage experienced at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) yesterday and subsequent closure of the airport, we wish to express our appreciation and gratitude for the support our country Kenya other governments around the world and our development partners.
The US president Barack Obama and other leaders in the East Africa community telephoned His Excellency President Uhuru Kenyatta in the wake of the fire to offer their support.
Presidents Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania, Paul Kagame of Reanda, Pierre Nkurunziza of Burundi and Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Haile Mariam Delasagne offered their support including use of the airports in their countries.
President Kenyatta also received from the President of the African Development Bank Donald Kaberuka and senior executives of the World Bank who had immediate offers of financing for rehabilitation of JKIA.
We can also confirm the following information to the public, our stakeholders and passengers of JKIA:
1. JKIA is partially open and has been in operations since 4.30pm yesterday.
2. Domestic flights to various airports within Kenya are operating out of the Kenya Airways (KQ) ACHL cargo terminal.
3. Cargo flights have resumed and are operating on a specific schedule between 10.00pm and 6.00am.
4. Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) and other stakeholders have worked overnight to convert the domestic departures Unit 3 into a temporary international arrivals and departures terminal. Various international flights have now arrived and departed from Unit 3.
5. Our national carrier, KQ, is currently operating at 35% capacity with two flights last night to Mombasa from Nairobi and Paris and three incoming flights this morning from Bangkok direct to JKIA and from London and Amsterdam via Mombasa International Airport.
6. We can also confirm that five KQ flights to Juba, Johannesburg, Accra, Antanarivo and Precision to Zanzibar departed early this morning.
7. We expect more KQ flights to Amsterdam, Kinshasa, Entebbe, Dar es Salaam, Kigali-Bujumbura, Bombay, London, Dubai, Johannesburg, Paris and Bangkok to go out later today. KQ domestic flights to Kisumu, Eldoret and Mombasa are also scheduled.
8. Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) has confirmed that other international airlines can operate into JKIA under advise from midnight today.
9. KAA safety marshals will continue to carry out safety briefings for airport workers to ensure international safety and security standards are maintained.
We want to reassure international and local passengers that while they may experience some level of discomfort and delays during travel, the government of Kenya and KAA is working with all the airport stakeholders to ensure their safety and security, while restoring normal operations as soon as possible.
Some of the arrangements we are putting in place will be effected later today and include:
1. Unit 2 departures has been cleared for international departures and will be open for KQ international departures later today.
2. This will allow other international airlines to use Unit 3 for arrivals and departures.
3. The authority’s ICT team is working with various technology partners to restore the crucial connectivity and passenger system at the temporary passenger processing units.
Eng Michael Kamau
Cabinet Secretary, Transport and Infrastructure
Kenya Airways Update: 10th Update: Resumption of full domestic flight operations
Kenya Airways is pleased to announce the resumption of full operations for domestic flights as part of its concerted efforts to restore normalcy, following yesterday’s fire incident at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi.
In partnership with the Kenya Airports Authority and other stakeholders, we have worked relentlessly to streamline our flight operations and manage service delivery to our customers.
Consequently, domestic passengers can now board their flights at the cargo center at JKIA while all international passengers will arrive and depart from Unit 3.
We are now operating at 35% capacity and we are confident that full operations will resume within the course of the day.
We take this opportunity to thank all our customers, staff and stakeholders for their patience and support during this difficult time.
We would like to assure you that all efforts are being made to restore full operations at the earliest time possible.
For more information please contact the Kenya Airways contact centre on;
Tel: +254 711024747, +254 734104747, +254 706999999 or +254 020 3274747
Twitter handle: – @KenyaAirways
Facebook:-KenyaAirways
Sincerely,
Dr Titus Naikuni
Group Managing Director and CEO
Kenya Airways
August 8, 2013
STATEMENT BY STATEHOUSE SPOKESPERSON ON JOMO KENYATTA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT FIRE
Following the fire incident at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, President Uhuru Kenyatta visited the scene this morning and was dismayed by the disruption and damage caused by the fire.
To the thousands of passengers, including tourists, whose journeys were disrupted, the President shares your concerns and regrets the inconvenience.
We are concerned that the incident interrupted travelers schedules and appreciate that they are being routed to their destinations as soon as is possible.
President Kenyatta wishes to inform all stakeholders and Kenyans that the fire has been contained. The cause of the fire is being investigated. There is no reason to speculate at this point.
There was no loss of life.
There has been serious disruption of the aviation operations at the airport.
Contingency measures have been put in place to stabilise the situation and to return the airport to normal operations.
President Kenyatta wishes to reassure the entire aviation industry, investors, local and international travelers that everything is being done to resume normal operations.
We expect cargo and domestic services to resume from this airport this afternoon. They will operate from the Cargo terminal.
A time-frame for the resumption of international flights will be relayed later. However, the Kenya Civil Aviation has granted clearance for the use of Unit 3 for international departures and arrivals.
We want to guarantee the safety and security of all passengers, and that is our most important consideration at this time.
Help lines have been set up where those who wish to get further information.
Manoah Esipisu
Secretary Communication & State House Spokesperson
+254 732 819 160
7th Update: Kenya Airways Releases Schedule of flights for Thursday 8th August 2013
Following partial opening of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport we are pleased to announce a limited schedule of flights to take care of our international and domestic passengers flying on Kenya Airways on Thursday, August 8, 2013.
For international departures, flights will depart from both Mombasa’s Moi International Airport and Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. Priority will be given to passengers booked on tomorrow’s flights with those who missed today’s flights being considered subject to seat availability.
The priority is as follows:
All passengers to Kinshasa from Nairobi and Mombasa booked on flights for 7th and 8th August will be accommodated on the flight KQ554 planned for tomorrow originating Mombasa via Nairobi.
All passengers holding confirmed tickets to Amsterdam on KQ116 on Thursday 8th August originating from Nairobi will depart at 9.45 am. In addition, passengers originating from Mombasa who were due to connect to Amsterdam on 7th and 8th will be accommodated on this flight.
All other passengers with confirmed tickets for 7th August will be advised on alternative arrangements in a separate brief.
The delayed London flight of 7th August will operate tomorrow 8th August with an estimated departure of 10.45 am from Nairobi.
Passengers holding confirmed tickets on KQ764 to Johannesburg and KQ510 Accra/Freetown on 8th August will be accommodated on the flights below.
Passengers holding confirmed tickets for flights to Dar es Salaam, Entebbe, Kigali, Bujumbura and Juba on Thursday 8th August will progressively be accommodated on the available flights.
The limited operating schedule for Thursday 8th August is as follows:
International Flights:
Originating from Mombasa
Flight No. Destination Departure Time (all times local)
KQ756 Hahaya/Antananarivo 0700
KQ554 Kinshasa via Nairobi 0700
KQ116 Amsterdam via Nairobi 0730
KQ1102 London via Nairobi 0845
Originating from Nairobi
Flight No. Destination Departure Time (all times local)
KQ510 Accra/Freetown 0800
KQ554 Kinshasa 0900
KQ116 Amsterdam 0945
KQ1102 London 1100
KQ764 Johannesburg 2040
Regional Flights
Flight No. Destination Departure Time (all times local)
KQ350 Juba 0730
KQ482 Dar-Es-Salaam 1145
KQ412 Entebbe 1230
KQ442 Kigali/Bujumbura 1300
We are working on the schedule of local flights to take care of our passengers booked for flights on 7th and 8th August 2013 and shall communicate as soon as we finalize.
A further update will be issued at 2300 hours.
For more information please call our Contact Centre on +254711024747/+254734104747/+254 20 3274747
Dr Titus Naikuni
Group Managing Director and CEO
Kenya Airways
August 7, 2013
Time : 1930hours
Update from Kenya Airways:
We would like to inform all our customers and stakeholders that due to the Fire at Jomo Kenyatta International airport all our flights are currently cancelled till further notice.
All our staff and Customers are Safe and there is no damage to the Aircrafts.
The following flights landed Nairobi safely,KQ765, KQ466, KQ221, KQ101, KQ625, KQ887, KQ732, KQ417.
Five flights KQ117,KQ331,KQ311,KQ863,KQ203 have been diverted to Mombasa. All our transit passengers are being facilitated to Hotels in Nairobi and Mombasa.
One staff and a passenger had slight smoke inhalation and are safe in hospital for further investigation.
We will keep you updated as things unfold.
For more information please call our contact center on +254711024747/+254734104747/+254 20 3274747
Dr Titus Naikuni
group CEO and Managing Director
Kenya Airways
Also see attached Kenya Airways Press Statement of the JKIA Fire.
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