Flights grounded in Nairobi impacts time-sensitive cargo deliveries

Kenya’s aviation infrastructure got here below pressure on Monday after a labour dispute disrupted flight operations on the state-owned Jomo Kenyatta Worldwide Airport (JKIA), elevating questions in regards to the resilience of one in every of East Africa’s most crucial transport and logistics hubs.

The Kenya Aviation Employees Union (KAWU) referred to as the economic motion one week after it introduced plans to strike over implementation points tied to a collective bargaining settlement signed between the union and authorities. The union’s Secretary-Normal Moss Ndiema advised native newspaper Day by day Nation that the economic motion started at 6 am (GMT +03.00) on Monday. The employees are demanding higher working circumstances, in addition to improved pay and advantages.

“Kenya Airport Authority (KAA) needs to tell the general public of delays affecting departing flights at Jomo Kenyatta Worldwide Airport (JKIA) as a consequence of an ongoing labour dispute between Kenya Aviation Employees Union (KAWU) and the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA),” the company stated in a press release launched on Monday.

JKIA is a vital hub for time-sensitive tech imports and different cargo imports. Disruptions can ripple throughout provide chains, delay ICT and electronics, and sluggish the motion of expertise that drives Kenya’s digital economic system. Because the nation plans to broaden air freight capability for worldwide commerce imports, the strike exposes the guide lever that also throws a wedge in its ambition.

In a press release on Monday, the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA), the nation’s airspace regulator, stated it has “activated its operational continuity measures” and plans to “interact related [airline] stakeholders according to relevant labour legal guidelines and court docket instructions.”

The union has accused the regulator of stalling wage negotiations, delaying union remittances and failing to resolve long-running labour grievances.

On February 13, KCAA moved to court docket looking for orders to halt the strike, and a labour court docket choose suspended the motion pending additional instructions anticipated this week. Regardless of that, staff proceeded with the strike on Monday morning.

A number of airways with connecting flights, together with Jambojet, iFly, and Kenya Airways, have notified prospects about delays affecting departures and arrivals. Nevertheless, there isn’t any specified date for when regular flight schedules will probably be restored. In keeping with knowledge from flight-tracking platform Flightradar, scheduled Monday afternoon departure flights from JKIA have been delayed.

Past passenger inconvenience, the disruption highlights the fragility of aviation as digital infrastructure. JKIA transported 8.6 million passengers in 2025 and capabilities as a gateway linking East Africa and Europe, North America and the Center East. It’s also a vital cargo hall, supporting time-sensitive exports akin to horticulture and facilitating imports of high-value items, together with electronics, which are sometimes shipped by air freight.

Kenya imported $1.1 billion value {of electrical} and digital gear in 2024, most of it sourced from Asia. Whereas bulk shipments transfer by sea by Mombasa, excessive‑worth electronics and ICT {hardware} sometimes fly into the nation by way of JKIA and a handful of different airports, making disruptions a direct threat to simply‑in‑time deliveries of gadgets and community gear.

In keeping with the KAA, Kenya plans to boost JKIA’s freight capability to 1 million tonnes by 2030.

For Kenya’s digital economic system, JKIA is greater than a passenger terminal. It’s a mobility and logistics node for startups, enterprise capital buyers, multinational tech operators and cross-border expertise motion. In December 2025, about 313,944 passengers landed on the airport, a 16.5% enhance from the earlier month, underscoring the airport’s gateway function in easing mobility.

Extended instability on the airport dangers ripple results throughout provide chains, enterprise journey, and regional integration efforts below the African Continental Free Commerce Space (AfCFTA).

The strike additionally revives rigidity seen in September 2024, when KAWU opposed a 30-year lease deal involving India’s Adani Group and the reported takeover of JKIA. The union opposed the concession over fears of job losses and governance points, and the proposal was later withdrawn.