Minimal operations resume at JKIA as Passaris defends Adani deal

By Peter Ochieng

Minimal operations have resumed at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), hours after aviation workers commenced their strike against a proposed takeover by Indian firm, Adani.

Passengers were greatly inconvenienced, with hundreds of them getting stranded at the busy airport, as workers aligned to the Kenya Aviation Workers Union (KAWU) downed their tools to protest against the leasing deal, which they say will render the majority of them jobless.  

Aviation workers in other airports such as the Moi International Airport (MIA) and the Kisumu International Airport (KIA) stayed away from work, in solidarity with their colleagues at JKIA.

Terminal 1D, responsible for domestic departures and arrivals at JKIA, has reopened, coming as a relief to travellers who had been stranded for hours, after major airlines – Kenya Airways and Jambojet suspended some flights.  

However, Nairobi Women Representative Esther Passaris has defended the deal, stating that it will in the long run, prove to be a ganger changer in management of JKIA, which has in the past been characterised by leaking roofs and power outages.

"Kenyans need to understand what the Adani group will provide. I have been to Ahmedabad Airport, which was done by Adani. The first time I went to Ahmedabad airport, four years ago, it was a mediocre airport, today it's one of the five-star airports," she said at JKIA.

Currently known as Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International, it is an international airport serving the twin cities of Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar in Gujarat, India.

It is named after Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the first Deputy Prime Minister of India. The airport is the busiest and largest airport in the state of Gujarat, and is the seventh busiest airport in India.

Reports indicate that in the financial year 2023-24, it handled over 11 million passengers, making it the seventh-busiest airport in terms of passenger traffic in India.

One of the stranded passengers was Mombasa Senator Faki Mohamed, who was headed to Mumbai, India for his brother’s heart checkup.