Kenya Airways Suspends Flights to Kinshasa, DR Congo

Due to the continued detention of Kenya Airways employees by the Military Intelligence Unit in Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the airline has suspend flights to Kinshasa effective 30th April 2024 until further notice.

In a statement signed by its Group Managing Director & CEO, Allan Kilavuka, Kenya Airways said "The continued detention of our employees has made it difficult for us to supervise our operations in Kinshasa, which include customer service, ground handling, cargo activities, and generally ensuring safe, secure, and efficient operations. We also ask that our staff be treated humanely and respectfully during this unlawful detention. 

We sincerely apologize to our customers for any inconvenience caused by this situation. We assure you that your safety and well-being, as well as that of our staff, is our number one priority. Affected customers are advised to contact our customer excellence team at +254 711 024 747, WhatsApp at +254 705 474 747, or email customer.relations@kenya-airways.com. 

We continue cooperating with the investigating agencies and the relevant Government entities in both DRC and Kenya to ensure this matter is resolved. We ask that the Military court's direction that they be released to allow due process to be respected so that our innocent staff can return to their families and everyday lives without harassment."

It will be recalled that on Friday, April 19th, 2024, two of Kenya Airways employees at its Airport office in Kinshasa were arrested and detained by the Military Intelligence Unit known as Detection Militaire des Activities Anti Patrie (DEMIAP).

The reason for their arrest was alleged to be missing custom documentation on valuable cargo that was to be transported on a Kenya Airways flight on April 12th, 2024.