Flights resume after Kenyan aviation workers call off strike

Qatar Airways flight attendants wait to be cleared during a workers strike at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, Kenya, Monday, Aug. 31, 2026.   -  
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After two days of delays and cancellations, flights from Nairobi resumed on Tuesday as aviation workers called off a strike. 

Thousands of passengers were stranded in the capital Nairobi and at other airports around the east African country on Sunday and Monday as workers staged a go-slow protest.

The two-day walkout was the latest in a series of strikes by aviation unions demanding a new collective bargaining agreement. 

They also want an end to the use of volunteer staff. 

Kenya's Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement that the two sides had agreed to on a way to move forward. 

Under the deal, unions will receive agency fees owed to them by the Airports Authority.

Negotiations on the collective bargaining agreement will resume, with the aviation authority promising to honour the outcome. 

Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi is a major regional hub and vital to Kenya's tourism industry.

The country's transport minister said the government had helped brokered an agreement between the key parties, adding that "the loss to the economy... has been huge."

National carrier Kenya Airways said it's working to restore operations but warned that delays would continue until Wednesday.

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