Nairobi Kenya: Passengers aboard Kenya Airways flight that was diverted to Athens
following a fire warning are still stranded after Greece Civil Aviation
declined to clear plane to leave.
In a statement issued on Monday, KQ said that the flight was
scheduled to depart on Sunday at 9pm but was cancelled at the last
minute
. ..As reported by Standard News.
“This follows the denial of clearance by the Greece Civil Aviation in
spite of approval by Kenya Civil Aviation Authority and the
manufacturers, Boeing, for reasons yet to be officially communicated,”
KQ Chief Operating Officer Mbuvi Nguze said.
He however said the airline was making arrangement to fly the 301 passengers into Kenya.
“We have an aircraft in Nairobi ready, and crew is on hand awaiting regulatory clearance to commence the mission,” Nguze said.
The plane was diverted to Athens on Saturday for an emergency landing after a fire warning indication in one of the cargo hold.
The passengers were set to arrive in Nairobi on Monday at 4.30am from Amsterdam.
In a press statement to newsrooms over
the weekend, Ngunze said that the spare required to repair the landing
gear door was set to arrive from Amsterdam at 16.20 hours local time
Sunday.
“According to our engineering team on the ground, it will take two hours to finalise the repairs,” he explained.