House probes flight delays claim against Jambojet

Politics and policy

JamboJet operates flights between Mombasa, Eldoret, Nairobi and Mombasa. PHOTO | FILE 

By EDWIN MUTAI, emutai@ke.nationmedia.com

In Summary

• Transport PS Nduva Muli was on Tuesday summoned to Parliament to respond to concerns raised by Marakwet East MP Kangogo Bowen who had claimed that Jambojet has been delaying passengers in Kisumu for up to two hours before flying to Eldoret.
• The MP said majority of travellers on the North Rift region had complained of travel delays given that Jambojet does not in most cases fly directly to Eldoret.

Kenya Airways’ budget carrier, Jambojet, is on the spot over alleged flight delays on the Nairobi-Eldoret route.

The issue emerged on Tuesday at a meeting between Transport and Infrastructure principal secretary Nduva Muli and MPs, who had summoned him to Parliament over the matter.

Mr Muli appeared before the Maina Kamanda-led committee to respond to concerns raised by Marakwet East MP Kangogo Bowen who had claimed that Jambojet has been delaying passengers in Kisumu for up to two hours before flying to Eldoret.

“There is serious inconvenience by Jambojet. Sometimes they take us to Kisumu from Eldoret and then to Nairobi. At times they fly us to Kisumu then to Eldoret, delaying us,” said Mr Kangogo.

Officials from the Ministry of Transport and Kenya Airways are set to meet with MPs next Monday to address the issue.

The MP said majority of travellers on the North Rift region had complained of travel delays given that Jambojet does not in most cases fly directly to Eldoret.

Mr Kangogo had sought to know why Kenya Airways stopped flights to Eldoret and when the decision would be rescinded.

Mr Muli said Kenya Airways stopped its operations to Eldoret on April 1, 2014 in favour of its low-cost subsidiary Jambojet.

He said KQ agreed to let its low-cost carrier serve all networks in Kisumu, Eldoret and Mombasa.

“Data from the airline shows that only one of two carriers can serve the route with double daily flights.

“From July 2014, Jambojet has been offering morning and evening flights for the Eldoret route. Commercialisation and capacity within the market is the issue,” Mr Muli said.

He said Jambojet has had a challenge of passenger numbers to the region.

“We will look at issues of scheduling. Market dynamics are causing these delays,” he said.

Mr Kamanda said if the passenger numbers are not sufficient, then the air passenger business to Eldoret is not viable.

“People have now opted to use roads. There were two flights daily but the introduction of Jambojet has created problems,” Mr Kangogo said.