Kenya Airways planes parked at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi. PHOTO | REUTERS Kenya Airways #ticker:KQ will now only fly domestic routes as it moves to adhere to the international flights ban imposed by the government on Sunday in its efforts to curb the coronavirus spread.
The airline’s chief executive officer Allan Kilavuka said all international services will be suspended effective midnight March 25, until further notice.
“We will continue to operate cargo flights particularly so that we are available to offer emergency services or much needed supplies. In the meantime, our domestic flights to Mombasa and Kisumu remain operational,” said Mr Kilavuka.
The national carrier said it is assisting passengers returning home given the increased travel restrictions across the world.
“We also recognise that these sudden changes have greatly inconvenienced many of our customers and we would like to apologise sincerely for this but hope that we will come back stronger than ever in due course. Customers affected by the suspension will be able to change their bookings for later travel or exchange their booking for vouchers for future travel within 12 months,” he said.
Prior to the international flights ban, KQ said it had been forced to reduce its network by over 70 percent and it had become increasingly difficult to continue offering international passenger services.
Airlines across the world have suspended flights, sent workers home and asked governments for bailouts.
The Covid-19, which originated in Wuhan, China in December, has infected more than 300,000 people worldwide and resulted in over 14,000 deaths.
The World Health Organisation declared it a pandemic on March 11, 2020.
Kenya has so far reported 15 cases even as the government steps up efforts to curb spread of the virus.