In a second update issued at around 8.30 pm, the national carrier said the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner that was en route to London Heathrow but was diverted to Stansted Airport had been cleared to proceed with the journey.
KQ further stated that the security threat which caused the diversion was of “low credibility”.
“We received a security alert on the 12th Oct 2023 at approximately 10:30am, from the UK Security agencies. This threat has since been established to have low credibility,” said the airline in a statement.
It added: “The aircraft landed safely at London Stansted Airport, the incident has been stood down and the airport is open and is operating as normal. The security agencies cleared the aircraft and will be departing for London Heathrow to resume normal operations.”
Kenya Airways has since offered to provide psychological support to passengers and crew affected by the incident.
“We sincerely regret the inconvenience to our passengers and crew and would like to thank them for their patience… We will provide any necessary counseling support and will communicate directly to our passengers on how they receive it,” added the statement.
The KQ plane, which was reportedly intercepted by fighter jets, was diverted to Stansted Airport in London for security clearance by U.K government security personnel. Stansted is the designated airport for dealing with security issues in the UK.
According to Aviation news platform Simple Flying, the proximity of Stansted Airport to key Royal Air Force bases allows key resources to be swiftly deployed while the size of the location enables potential risks to be isolated from other areas.
The reason for the diversion still remains unclear, with the London press reporting that bomb squads were seen rushing to the scene.
The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner departed Nairobi at 9:18 am, after a 13-minute delay