Private airline records influx in flight bookings as Kenya Airways pilots' strike bite

Kenya Airways strike saw over 10,000 passengers stranded on Saturday.

In Summary

•Fly 748 Managing Director, Moses Mwangi said the renowned airline began experiencing a surge in bookings from Saturday.

•“Over the last 24 hours, we have experienced a rise in bookings including dignitaries. We will continue to monitor the situation and open more flights as the need arises,” said Mwangi.

A 748 Air Services Dash 8-Q400 aircraft./FILE
A 748 Air Services Dash 8-Q400 aircraft./FILE

Fly 748 has reported an influx in flight bookings after Kenya Airways requested its passengers to cancel their tickets for other available airlines.

Fly 748 Managing Director, Moses Mwangi said the renowned airline began experiencing a surge in bookings from Saturday.

“Over the last 24 hours, we have experienced a rise in bookings including dignitaries. We will continue to monitor the situation and open more flights as the need arises,” said Mwangi.

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“While the situation is to our advantage and other domestic operators, we hope that the current impasse at the national carrier will be resolved soonest, meanwhile we want to assure passengers that we have the capacity to ease current disruptions,” he said.

Kenya Airways pilot's strike saw over 10,000 passengers stranded on Saturday.

The airline, however,  on Sunday announced the resumption of operations for certain flights amidst the pilots' strike.

In a statement on Sunday, KQ announced the resumption of six flights.

"Kenya airways would like to confirm that the following flights are scheduled for today. The flights will cater for passengers who are already booked to travel," read the statement.

The routes include Nairobi - Entebbe (KQ 420) at 12:45 PM, Entebbe- Nairobi (KQ 421) at 14:45 PM Nairobi- Mombasa (KQ 606) at 13:30 PM and  Mombasa- Nairobi ( KQ 607) at 15:30 PM .

Others are Nairobi - Lusaka ( KQ 706 ) at 17:00 PM Nairobi - Lusaka ( KQ 707 ) at 20:20 PM A help desk has been set up at JKIA, Terminal 1A to assist passengers.

The pilot's lobby, Kenya Pilots Association (Kalpa) on Saturday said they were not resuming duties until KQ's management reinstates the suspended provident fund.

Since June 2020, Fly 748 has been on an aggressive domestic routes expansion from flying to the Mara only, to now flying to flying daily to Malindi, Ukunda, and Mombasa and twice weekly to Kisumu to support the growth of business and leisure tourism.

 748 Air Services provides both air charter services and scheduled services.

Through charter services for passengers and cargo, the airline caters for the humanitarian, natural resource and government sectors.

 

Fly 748 offers daily flights to Mombasa, Diani, Malindi and Kisumu from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), Terminal 2.

It also flies daily to the Maasai Mara from Wilson Airport.

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