| Russian aircraft to be phased out of Kenya |
The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) might ban the use of "unconventional" aircraft in Kenya because of lack of capacity to ensure their airworthiness.
These aircraft include Russian-made Antonov and Illushin models, which have been blamed for the high rate of aircraft accidents in Africa, particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Companies that operate the Eastern European model of aircrafts have been given 6 months effective April 1st this year, to remove the aircraft from their fleets.
The Director General of KCAA, Mr Chris Kuto, while addressing an air licensing meeting recently, noted that it was time Kenya imposed the ban on the aircraft, citing lack of engineers for the heavy cargo type of aircraft.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) and African Airlines Association (Afraa) have been calling for all ageing aircrafts to be phased out. A ban was slapped in the DRC last year, but the United Nations Mission in Congo (MONUC) was allowed to keep its fleet of the Antonov model.
MONUC maintains 5 Antonov-24 and one Antonov-26 passenger planes, the type that crashed in Kinshasa on October 4 last year, leading to the ban.
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