A Kenya Airways flight heading to Rwanda was on Sunday morning forced to return to Nairobi after two failed attempts to land at the Kigali International Airport.

According to KQ, the diversion of flight KQ478 from Nairobi to Kigali was as a result of low visibility and deteriorating weather at the Kigali airport. 

“Kenya Airways PLC (KQ) confirms that on 17 December 2023 at approximately 07:45 hrs (East African Time), KQ 478, on a scheduled operation from Nairobi to Kigali, encountered low visibility and deteriorating weather on the normal approach to land at Kigali International Airport,” read the statement in part.

In a statement, the national carrier said that it was forced to return to Nairobi after two unsuccessful landing attempts, in a bid to ensure the well-being of passengers and crew, with the aircraft safely landing in Nairobi at 09:50 hours (East African Time).

Passengers affected by the diversion are being transferred to the next available flight.

“Air turnbacks are standard safety procedures. We sincerely apologise to our guests for the inconvenience and assure our customers that their safety and that of our crew is our highest priority," KQ said.

In a similar response, Rwanda Air confirmed flight delays to and from Kigali due to poor visibility caused by heavy fog at Kigali International Airport.

"Due to poor visibility as a result of heavy fog at Kigali International Airport, we are expecting flight delays to/from Kigali. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause," the airline said.

This follows a recent incident where another Kenya Airways flight bound for Dubai diverted back to Nairobi on December 11, due to the discovery of tyre debris on the runway during routine checks by the airport's Air Traffic Control at approximately 9:20 pm. 

"Upon further inspection, it was established by the KQ operations team that the tyre debris was from KQ 310, which had departed on a scheduled operation from Nairobi to Dubai," said KQ in a statement seen by Citizen Digital.