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The passengers booked on the flights were instructed to use Jomo Kenyatta International Airport's (JKIA) Unit 3 to check-in given the International Arrivals terminal went up in flames in the wee hours of Wednesday morning/AFP

Kenya

KQ lines up 17 international flights out of Nairobi

The passengers booked on the flights were instructed to use Jomo Kenyatta International Airport's (JKIA) Unit 3 to check-in given the International Arrivals terminal went up in flames in the wee hours of Wednesday morning/AFP

The passengers booked on the flights were instructed to use Jomo Kenyatta International Airport’s (JKIA) Unit 3 to check-in given the International Arrivals terminal went up in flames in the wee hours of Wednesday morning/Mike Kariuki

NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 8 – Seventeen Kenya Airways flights were scheduled to leave JKIA for Kinshasa, London, Amsterdam, Johannesburg, Juba, Paris, Bombay, Dubai, Entebbe, Kigali, Dar es Salaam, Accra and Bangkok on Thursday, as international flights resumed at JKIA.

The passengers booked on the flights were instructed to use Jomo Kenyatta International Airport’s (JKIA) Unit 3 to check-in given the International Arrivals terminal went up in flames in the wee hours of Wednesday morning.

“There is a help desk located outside Unit 3 for all our passengers who may require assistance. All efforts have been made to ensure a seamless processing of all our passengers,” Kenya Airways CEO Titus Naikuni said.

The national carrier is however only currently accommodating those passengers whose bookings had been confirmed given the airport is not yet fully operational.

Other airlines such as the South African Airways are yet to restore the Nairobi route with the airline posting on its Kenyan Facebook page: “South African Airways (SAA) would like to advise you that it has cancelled its flights between Johannesburg and Nairobi for today (August 7, 2013) and tomorrow (August 8, 2013).”

On Wednesday immediately following the blaze, British Airways and Emirates issued similar statements while impressing upon airport authorities the urgency of getting things up and running.

President Uhuru Kenyatta has however assured the businesses and their passengers that everything was being done to ensure operations return to normal as soon as is reasonably possible.

“We want to guarantee the safety and security of all passengers and that is our most important consideration at this time,” a statement from Statehouse explained.

APA insurers also moved to assure the Kenya Airports Authority that once their adjustors took stock of the damage, their claim would be processed.

“Policies are available for covering the material damage that includes damage of furniture, building and contents and also for loss of profits and increased cost of working,” APA Chief Operating Officer Suresh Kumar said in a statement.

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But even as resources are mobilised to mitigate the effects of the fire, the tourism industry will undoubtedly suffer a heavy blow especially as it’s currently the high season.

JKIA has for the last two weeks experienced a spate of unfortunate incidents that include the malfunction of the pipeline that supplies jet fuel to the airport on Monday that resulted in numerous flight delays.

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