Kenya Airways (KQ) said on Monday that it would resume flights to Kinshasa after military authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo released its two employees in their custody.
The airline suspended flights to the central African country on April 29 following the refusal of the DRC’s military authorities to set free the two individuals, which the airline had described their detention as “unlawful.”
“Kenya Airways confirms that military authorities have unconditionally released our two employees who had been detained since April 19, 2024,” the airline said in a statement. “With the necessary ground support in place, we are pleased to announce that Kenya Airways will resume flights to Kinshasa on May 8, 2024.”
Earlier, the Kenyan government had announced the release of one of the employees.
According to Kenya Airways, the two employees, who work at the airline’s office in Kinshasa, were arrested on April 19 by a military intelligence unit. They were allegedly held because of “missing custom documentation on valuable cargo.”
The airline however insisted it had not accepted the cargo, whose contents were not revealed, because of incomplete documentation.
The employees were held incommunicado in a military facility until April 23, when embassy officials and a KQ team were given access to them.