Why KQ has canceled its Cape Town return flight

Kenya Airways flight taking off at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi. [Elvis Ogina, Standard]

Kenya Airways (KQ) has cancelled its return flight from Cape Town to Nairobi after one of its aircraft suffered a tyre burst shortly after landing safely in South Africa on Monday afternoon.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the national carrier said Flight KQ784, which was operating a scheduled service from Nairobi to Cape Town, landed safely at approximately 3.30 p.m. local time before experiencing the tyre burst.

The airline said its crew responded swiftly and in line with established safety procedures, ensuring that all passengers and crew disembarked safely and were escorted to the airport terminal without incident.

"As a result of this incident, we have cancelled the return flight KQ785 as our engineers and technical team work to get the aircraft fixed," KQ stated.

The cancellation is expected to disrupt the travel plans of passengers booked on the return service, although the airline said it is contacting those affected directly to assist.

"We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this incident has caused. We thank our customers for their patience, cooperation and support, and our crew for their professionalism," the airline said.

At the same time, KQ reiterated that passenger safety remains its foremost priority.

Engineers and technical personnel are currently working to repair the aircraft before it can resume normal operations.