Thousands of passengers were on Monday stranded at JKIA when a fuel hydrant stalled for close to six hours barring international flights from taking off.
The Kenya’s national athletics team leaving for the World Championship in Moscow were among those affected.
An official at the airport revealed that the athletes were to fly on an Emirates flight but there was ‘‘an unexpected fuel shortage’’ at the airport after a fuel hydrant failed.
He said that they will book the 49 athletes and 12 officials into local hotels for the night till the matter is resolved.
Athletics Kenya Media Officer Evans Bosire said the team’s flight had been cancelled till further notice.
“We were to leave at 16.30, now we have to spend the night at Laico Regency. We are frustrated because the management did not communicate,” Mr Bosire said, “We were in there till eight o’clock with no communication at all”.
He added that the team was to arrive in Dubai at 9.30 am Tuesday (today) and take another flight to Moscow. “We now have only two days to acclimatise once we reach Moscow since the competitions begin on August 10,’’ he added.
Bosire said that he was informed that a number of flights destined to land at JKIA were diverted to other airports.
Contacted, the Kenya Airports Authority spokesperson, Mr Dominic Ngigi, told Nation on phone that he was not in a position to comment on the issue.
“Kenya Pipelines and Civil Aviation authorities are more aware of the issue,” he said.
However, Kenya Pipeline authorities told Nation on phone that the problem had been fixed and flights were ready to take off.
It initially appeared that the athletes might miss the Championships slated for August 10 to 14.
President Uhuru Kenyatta on Friday bade farewell and advised the team ahead of their World Championship competitions. He urged them to seek inspiration from their astute performance at the 2011 Daegu World Championships
The team did Kenyans proud by collecting an unprecedented 17 medals (seven gold, six silver and four bronze).-nation.co.ke
