NAIROBI: Hundreds of passengers were left stranded at Kenya’s main airport on Wednesday as staff went on strike over a planned takeover by an Indian company. The walk-out by the Kenyan Aviation Workers Union began at midnight, severely disrupting flights at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).

Long queues of passengers were outside the airport and there were lines of cars trying to access the area, AFP reporters said. The union said the strike would continue until the government scrapped a plan to lease the airport to India’s Adani Group for 30 years in exchange for a $1.85-billion investment.

“The strike is on and all shifts have been suspended,” union leader Moses Ndiema told workers at the airport. “Adani must go, that is not optional,” he said.

The Kenya Airports Authority said “minimal operations” had resumed at 7:00 am (0400 GMT) but data from Flight Radar showed long delays and several cancellations for flights in and out of the airport.

Critics say the plan to lease JKIA to Adani will lead to job losses for local staff and rob taxpayers of future airport profits. Freight and passenger fees from the airport account for more than five percent of Kenya’s GDP. One stranded passenger, Elvis Mushengu, told AFP he had been waiting through the night. “They closed the doors at around 12 (midnight),” he said. “We don’t know who’s doing the screening or what the procedure is... We’ve not slept, we’re just tired.”

Kenya’s government has defended the Adani deal as necessary to refurbish JKIA. It is one of Africa’s busiest hubs, handling 8.8 million passengers and 380,000 tons of cargo in 2022-23, but is often hit by power outages and leaking roofs. Adani would add a second runway and upgrade the passenger terminal, according to the Kenya Airports Authority. Tourism is a major contributor to the Kenyan economy, accounting for more than 10 percent of GDP in 2022, according to the government.

The Law Society of Kenya and the Kenya Human Rights Commission won a delay on the Adani deal from the High Court on Monday, arguing that it lacked “transparency”. A date for a final court verdict on the deal has yet to be set. — AFP