Kenya Airways has suspended it’s flights to Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo over the continued detention of two of it’s employees by the Military Intelligence Unit.

In a statement issued on Monday evening, the airlines company says the suspension will be effective starting Tuesday April 30,2024.

“Due to the continued detention of KQ employees by the Military Intelligence Unit in Kinshasa, Kenya Airways (KQ) is unable to support our flights without personnel effectively.

“As a result, we reached a difficult decision to suspend flights to Kinshasa effective 30TH April 2024 until we can effectively support these flights,” KQ said in statement.

The two staff who who work at the carrier’s airport office in the DRC capital were arrested on April 19 by the Military Detection of Anti-Homeland Activities for allegedly missing custom documentation on valuable cargo.

Additionally, the company says the “continued detention of the employees has made it difficult for us to supervise our operations in Kinshasa, which include customer service, ground handling, cargo activities, and generally ensuring safe, secure, and efficient operations.”

Kenya Airways direction to affected customers

KQ has now advised all the affected customers to contact them through their customer excellence team at +254 711 024 747, WhatsApp at +254 705 474 747, or email [email protected].

“We continue cooperating with the investigating agencies and the relevant Government entities in both DRC and Kenya to ensure this matter is resolved.

“We ask that the Military court’s direction that they be released to allow due process to be respected so that our innocent staff can return to their families and everyday lives without harassment,” KQ added.