Kenya Airways has suspended flights to Guangzhou, China over the Coronavirus, days after it said it was monitoring the situation.
The airline now joins RwandaAir and Tanzania’s national carrier Air Tanzania—which postponed its maiden flight over the viral outbreak.
In a statement, KQ said it had taken the decision after consultations with the government, through the Ministry of Health and Foreign Affairs.
Further to our prior communication, we have temporarily suspended flights to and from Guangzhou effective January 31 until further notice. We, however, clarify that our service to Bangkok, Thailand remains operational,” the airline said.
The move comes barely hours after its workers, through the Kenya Aviation Workers Union (Kawu) threatened to lead its members in boycotting work if KQ doesn’t stop flying to china in the next few days.
“We call upon the management of KQ to exhibit some element of human feeling sensitivity and immediately suspend all flights to and from China to avoid exposing its employees to the risk of contracting the virus,” said secretary-general Moss Ndiema in a statement on Thursday.