Kenya Airways (KQ) has rejoined the African Airlines Ass ociation (AFRAA) six years after it quit, citing what it termed as mismanagement and administrative system failures, the association said here Friday in a statem e nt.
The airlineâ?s managing director, Mr. Titus Naikuni, announced the return to th e AFRAA membership when he visited its headquarters in the capital, Nairobi, at t he invitation of the new Secretary-General, Mr. Nick Fadugba.
â?The purpose of the visit was to re-establish close and cordial relations betw een Kenya Airways and AFRAA after six yearsâ? withdrawal,â? the statement said.
Naikuni told the new AFRAA chief that Kenyaâ?s national carrier was compelled t o rescind its membership â?due to its principled views on certain issuesâ?.
Fadugba regretted the non-participation of Kenya Airways in AFRAA activities in the past six years, saying membership annulment was a major drawback to the avia t ion industry in Africa as it was one of a few with a wide continental and global
reach.
Fadugba was elected AFRAA secretary general during its 41st annual general Assem bly in Maputo, Mozambique, in November to replace Christian Folly-Kossi, whose s e cond and final term in office expired last month.
He took up his new assignment at the headquarters in Nairobi on 18 February.
Naikuni also paid the airline’s membership subscription that had been in arrears for six years and promised not to interfere in the associationâ?s activities an d operations.
Fadugba said his tenure would focus on â?safety and security, training, liberal isation, co-operation and the establishment of a research unit to focus on Afric a n airline data collection and analysis.
â?With the return of the national airline of the host country of the African Ai rlines Association, there is optimism that other African airlines that had withd r awn their membership will soon return.â?
