KLM removes Kenya from list of countries with 'civil unrest' after uproar

Dutch national carrier KLM has removed Kenya by deletion from its website, previously listed as having civil unrest, even as Tanzania’s three major airports remain listed as ‘local threat.’

A civil unrest involves fierce fighting between different groups of people or communities, so fierce that it could greatly disrupt airspace operations leading to its closure.

On Friday night, in an alert displayed on the website and its social media channels, KLM had instructed travellers to consider cancelling their flights to Kenya’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi over civil unrest, without disclosing the nature of the threat.

“Due to civil unrest in Tanzania and Kenya from Friday 27 January up to and including Monday 30 January 2023, some of our flights to, from or via Dar-es-Salaam (DAR), Kilimanjaro (JRO), Zanzibar (ZNZ), and Nairobi (NBO) may be disrupted. We are doing our very best to help you on your way again,” the Friday night alert read.

However, the airline has since pulled down the alert on Kenya, but maintained its messaging on Tanzania’s Dar-es-Salaam, Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar airports, which all have international their status retained as ‘local threats.’

“Does your original flight depart on Friday 27 January up to and including Monday 30 January 2023 to, from or via any of the above-listed destinations. Then your new departure date should be before or on Monday 6 February 2023. You can rebook your flight at the latest on Wednesday 1 February 2023,” the website says of Tanzania as at late Saturday afternoon.

Meanwhile, Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen said Kenya, which had since reached out to KLM’s country representative, would still demand an audience with the Netherlands for what he said was “unfounded, false, insensitive and misleading information.”

In a statement to newsrooms, the CS vowed to escalate the complaints through the diplomatic channels to stop the reoccurrence of the such damaging descriptions about Kenya.

“I have officially registered my protest with the airline against this unfounded, false, insensitive and misleading information that paints Kenya in bad light. Whereas this post has been pulled down from KLM’s social media pages, we will escalate the discussion through diplomatic channels to ensure the same does not recur,” said CS Murkomen in the statement.

The CS further censured the airline’s notification for peddling unconfirmed reports, underscoring the nature of effects it might have on Kenya’s image.

“We are shocked that KLM would spread such fabricated, malicious and false allegations without fact-checking and considering the probable effects to our country’s image and economy,” he lamented.

In May 2021, the Dutch national carrier announced plans to start direct flights to Mombasa from October that year, as it sought to strengthen its presence in East Africa.

The launch of the direct flights came just a month after the termination of its Africa-Europe joint venture partnership with national carrier Kenya Airways.

KLM has been the biggest beneficiary of the international flights riding on leisure travellers to the Coastal city through the pair of weekly flights from Amsterdam on Thursdays and Sundays which include a loop to Nairobi from Mombasa.