Kenya airport strike ends; Kenya Airways warns of delays

Kenyan aviation workers have called off a strike that paralysed the country's main international airport for two days, while Kenya Airways warned that delays would continue until Wednesday.

Thousands of passengers were stranded in Nairobi and at other airports around Kenya on Sunday and Monday as workers staged a go-slow protest.

The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority said an agreement had been reached to move forward negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement and on the non-victimisation of employees over the industrial action.

Transport Minister Davis Chirchir said the government had brokered an agreement between the key parties. He said the quantified loss to the economy had been huge.

Kenya Aviation Workers Union secretary general Moss Ndiema told reporters the union was effectively calling off the strike and would begin normalising operations.

National carrier Kenya Airways said it was working to restore operations, but warned that delays would continue until Wednesday.

The stoppage was the latest in a series of strikes and threatened shutdowns by aviation unions demanding a new collective bargaining agreement and an end to the use of volunteer staff. Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi is a major regional hub and important to Kenya's tourism trade.