Kenya Airways has suspended the sale of tickets from London to Nairobi, as pressure from the Heathrow crisis hits the national carrier.
The suspension follows a directive by Heathrow Airport instructing airlines to freeze outbound bookings until September, as it grapples with a surge in the number of passengers using the facility amid a shortage of manpower to manage the situation.
The turmoil in London, says the carrier’s top executive, may also see the national carrier cancel some flights to the UK in line with the new requirement by Heathrow, which is one of the world’s busiest airports.
“They have asked us to close new sales from London, which means we should only fly the tickets already sold up to now,” said Mr Kilavuka.
Heathrow has capped the number of passengers who can depart from the airport to 100,000 daily to manage travellers at the security checks and minimise delays that could see them miss their connecting flights.
KQ managing director Allan Kilavuka told the press that they will not make new bookings going forward until the ban is lifted, but will fly passengers who had already made earlier reservations.