Tycoon and former politician Kenneth Matiba and his family were among hundreds of passengers who were on Sunday stranded at JKIA as Kenya Airways cancelled over 24 flights.
Sources said the KQ had told passengers that there was an imminent delay due to technical reasons.
“We regret to inform you that your flight KQA8604 2nd Oct is facing an imminent delay due to technical reasons. Next update on departure timings will be in 40 minutes. Inconvenience caused are highly regretted,” read one of the messages.
A screenshot of the one of the cancelled Kenya Airways flights, October 2, 2016. /COURTESY
But the Star established that after 45 minutes, passengers were told to wait for about three hours after which the matter would have been sorted.
By 2pm the management had not communicated any further details on what was going on.
Passengers wait at JKIA following the cancellation of more than 20 flights by the national carrier, October 2, 2016. /COURTESY
This provoked angry passengers, some of whom had been kept waiting since Saturday night, to react.
“I came here yesterday and was forced to sleep here after we were notified our flight to Mombasa had technical issues. In the morning we were told to wait for 30 minutes, then 40 minutes then 3 hours then two hours. This is very disappointing all my plans have been tampered with,” said one passenger who declined to be named.
Some of the passengers stranded at JKIA after Kenya Airways cancelled more than 24 flights at the weekend, October 2, 2016, /COURTESY
He said KQ only sent them flight attendants to console them with snacks.
Kenya Airways management gave stranded passengers food as they waited for information about their cancelled and delayed flights at JKIA, October 2, 2016. /COURTESY
The management only intervened after angry passengers grabbed one of the female attendants and threatened to beat her.
Efforts to reach Kenya Airways were futile as calls went unanswered.
The former Corporate Communications Officer, Duncan Nguge, said he was attending a church service and could not speak.
Jambo Jet offered passengers vouchers that they could use to book subsequent flights or purchase food and beverages.
A voucher offered by Jambo Jet after KQ cancelled flights for thousands of passengers over the weekend, October 2, 2016. /COURTESY
