Passengers feel the pinch of airport closure

By Philip Mwakio and Maureen Odiwour

Nairobi, Kenya: Mombasa’s Moi International Airport (MIA) was stretched to the limit after flights were diverted there following a shut-down of Jomo Kenyatta airport in Nairobi.

Security was intensified as the airport received several flights and thousands of passengers.

By Wednesday  afternoon, over five international flights originally destined for the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) had landed in Mombasa. Kenya Airways planes had 1,381 passengers of various nationalities arriving from different parts of the world. Kenyan passengers had no choice but to board buses for a seven-hour trip to Nairobi.

KQ flights had originated from Amsterdam’s Schipol International Airport, Dubai, Jeddah, Bombay and Hong Kong.

Mombasa airport has a capacity for nine wide-bodied aircraft.

Mombasa County Commissioner Nelson Marwa led a team of the county’s Disaster Management Committee that included chairman Nahid Musa and Moi Airport OCPD Okwaye Owino in overseeing the smooth clearance of passengers at MIA.

Despite giving assurance that they were up to the task, disembarking passengers had a different story to tell. Eric Ngugi Mbugua, who was returning from Dubai aboard KQ Flight 311, accused the national carrier of taking passengers for granted.

“We are being shepherded out of the airport with no clear indication of how we shall get the next means of transport to Nairobi,” he said.

Mbugua said his flight was scheduled to land at JKIA at 6.30am, but instead the captain informed passengers the aircraft was being re-routed to Moi airport due to lack of landing space at JKIA.

Immigration desks

“When we landed, there was no one to talk to us, let alone explain what had happened. We are now trying to see how we can travel to Nairobi by road,” a dejected Mbugua said. Senior Assistant Director of Immigration in-charge of Coast Region, James Nyatigo, said they had deployed enough personnel to the airport’s immigration desks to assist in clearing of passengers.

The scenes at MIA were replicated at Kisumu International Airport.

Several passengers were stranded at the airport after flights were cancelled. Cyprian Kodienya was among those affected.

She was to travel to Mombasa via Nairobi using a Kenya Airways flight but this did not happen.

Kodienya was to be in Mombasa before 3pm to see her grandchild, who was to undergo an operation at the Nyali Children’s Hospital. “I am very disappointed that such a thing had to happen when I was planning to visit my sick grandchild,” she said.

Fair Sure Insurance Brokers CEO Nelson Omolo said he had planned to be in his office in Nairobi by 9am yesterday. However, by midday, he was still seated in the airport’s lounge, not knowing what to do.

Kenya Airports Authority’s Kisumu manager Joseph Okumu yesterday said they had not received any international flights diverted to the facility, save for a private plane that landed and took off after a few minutes.

The six-seater private plane was destined for Wilson Airport but arrived in Kisumu at noon and left after 30 minutes with all passengers on board.

He said they were expecting a Fly540 plane to land in Kisumu on Wednesday morning before the fire incident altered the schedules.