Kenya Airways Raises Concerns About Aircraft Spare Parts Delays
Kenya Airways warns Kenya’s Strategic Goods Control Bill 2026 could delay aircraft spare parts clearance, impacting flight reliability for its 34-aircraft fleet.
Jishan Khan 
Kenya Airways appeared before Kenya's National Assembly on May 20, 2026 to warn that the proposed Strategic Goods Control Bill 2026 could delay critical aircraft spare parts clearance, directly worsening flight reliability for the 34-aircraft carrier. The airline is urging lawmakers to exempt ICAO-certified civil aviation components from the bill's dual-use goods framework.
The bill is aimed at terrorists. The collateral damage could hit your flight to Nairobi.
What the Bill Actually Does, and Why Aviation Got Caught in It
The Strategic Goods Control Bill 2026, sponsored by Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichung'wah, is designed to regulate the import, export and transit of strategic and dual-use goods that could be repurposed for military or terrorist use. The intent is legitimate and the security concern is real. The problem is that aviation components, avionics, engine parts, hydraulic systems, frequently qualify as dual-use under broad definitions, not because airlines are smuggling weapons components, but because the same materials engineering that goes into a turbine blade can technically apply to defence applications. Kenya Airways argued before Parliament that commercial aviation equipment is already subject to rigorous certification by ICAO, EASA and the US Federal Aviation Administration, making an additional layer of national approval a duplication that adds delay without adding safety.
The Boeing 787 Incident That Made the Case
Kenya Airways did not arrive at Parliament with theory. It brought a real example. Company Secretary Habil Waswani cited a recent incident where a Boeing 787 Dreamliner developed a technical fault before a Dubai flight, forcing the airline to downgrade passengers to a smaller aircraft. Spare parts for situations like this are typically flown overnight from destinations including New York and require immediate customs clearance so engineers can restore the aircraft for the next day's operations. Add a new approval layer into that chain and what was a one-day fix becomes a multi-day delay, and passengers pay for it before they even know there was a problem.
Why Fleet Size Makes This Worse for KQ
Waswani was direct with the committee: "For Kenya Airways, we currently have around 34 aircraft." That number matters because there is almost no buffer. A large carrier with 200 aircraft can swap planes around a technical issue and most passengers never notice. An airline operating 34 jets on a wide network of regional and international routes has almost no slack when one aircraft goes unserviceable. Every hour a spare part sits in customs waiting for an additional approval is an hour closer to a cancelled flight and a stranded passenger.
Kenya Airways has asked Parliament to amend Section 3(2) of the bill or introduce a clause specifically exempting ICAO-certified civil aviation parts, software and services used in commercial passenger transport, subject to end-use certification. That is a narrow, targeted ask, not a broad exemption from security oversight, but a recognition that aviation already has its own rigorous oversight framework that should not be doubled up by a bill designed for a different problem entirely.
