Kenya Airways spare parts issue resolved

By Peter Ochieng

Kenya Airways (KQ) is gradually resuming its operations, having experienced a spare parts shortage that threatened to disrupt flight schedules.

Last week, the national carrier had announced a shortage of spare parts, adding that some of its airplanes may remain grounded for a two-week period occassioned by challenges in acquiring aircraft spare parts.

However, KQ Group managing director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Allan Kilavuka now says they are gradually resuming operations, due to arrival of some of the spare parts.

“Further to our last statement, where we informed you about the improved availability of components, we are delighted to share that we now have a significant number of components,” he said in a statement.

"We continue working closely with our partners and suppliers to expedite the timely delivery of components. This should keep disruptions, if any, down to a minimum. Recovery from disruptions across our network is still ongoing. Consequently, our flight-deck crew roster has been impacted,” he added.

KQ has 1,723 scheduled flights and 227,554 seats from Nairobi to about 37 destinations across the world this month.

Meanwhile, a Kenya Airways (KQ) flight bound for Dubai from the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) on Friday night diverted back to Nairobi.

This was after the discovery of tyre debris on the runway during a routine checkup by the airport's Air Traffic Control, at around 9:20 pm.

"Upon further inspection, it was established by the KQ operations team that the tyre debris was from KQ 310, which had departed on a scheduled operation from Nairobi to Dubai. The KQ operations team contacted the crew and agreed on a precautionary air turn back to Nairobi for further technical attention," said KQ in a statement seen by Nairobi Review.

The plane safely returned to Nairobi, landing at around 11:46 pm.