Kenya Airways Recalls Sacked Employees as Passenger Demand Rises

Kenya Airways (KQ) has started recalling some of its employees who were laid off last year in the wake of the Covid-19 disruption on business.

This follows the growing demand for air travel, especially on local destinations, which has seen the national carrier and other airlines increase frequencies to accommodate the rising number of passengers.

“We have seen an increase in demand and that is why we are recalling some of our employees,” A Kenya Airways official told Business Daily.

In October, Kenya Airways introduced a larger aircraft on the Nairobi-Mombasa route following a surge in the number of travelers. The airline deployed a Boeing 737-800 on the route in place of an Embraer 190 to meet the demand.

It also increased the frequency of flights to London to four weekly after Kenya was removed from the UK’s red list.

Last year, Kenya Airways resorted to cutting its workforce, hiring freeze, pay cuts, and unpaid leaves to stabilize its operating costs and survive the Covid-19 turbulence. The airline lost 1,123 employees to close 2020 with 3,652 members of staff.