Bomb Scare Halted Flights at Kenya Airport

A bomb threat Wednesday at Kenya’s main airport resulted in the grounding of all planes and complete closure of the facility for several hours.

According to The Associated Press, a Kenya Airways official said a passenger reported a bomb threat on a plane as it was departing from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi for Johannesburg, South Africa.

Airport authorities launched a full investigation into the incident but found no explosive devices on the plane or at the facility. The police found the passenger responsible for reporting the bomb threat and took him into custody.

airlines/kenya-airways.html” target=”_self” rel=”nofollow noopener noreferrer”>Kenya Airways spokesman Dennis Kashero revealed the threat resulted in the Nairobi airport being closed for nearly three hours before finally reopening. While the carrier did not say how many flights were impacted, FlightAware.com reported 14 flights were delayed and two canceled as a result of the incident.

Jomo Kenyatta International also experienced delays and cancellations last month when Kenya Airports Authority employees went on strike. A court quickly suspended the strike and operations resumed after a few hours.