[Source: Reuters]

Kenya’s main aviation union said it would call a strike from next Monday over a proposed deal with an Indian company to develop the country’s biggest airport – industrial action that could cause major disruption in the east African travel hub.

The Kenya Aviation Workers Union, which represents airport workers, said the proposed agreement announced last month with India’s Adani Airport Holdings would lead to job losses and bring in non-Kenyan workers.

It called on the government to scrap what it referred to as the “unlawful intended sale of JKIA (Jomo Kenyatta International Airport) to Adani Airport Holdings of India” in a seven-day strike notice issued on Monday.

Kenya’s government has said the airport is not for sale and that no decision had been made on whether to proceed with what it called a proposed public-private partnership to upgrade the hub.

An Adani Group spokesperson could not immediately be reached for comment.

Any walkout could also cause significant disruption to national carrier Kenya Airways (KQNA.NR), opens new tab.

“We shall reconsider our intention to engage in industrial action … only if the Adani Airport Holdings Limited’s deal is abandoned in its entirety,” Kenya Aviation Workers Union Secretary General Moss Ndiema said in the strike notice.

He repeated a call for the entire board of the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) to resign.