Passengers waiting to board their flights at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International airport on Thursday.
NAIROBI — International passenger flights were slowly resuming from Nairobi’s main international airport on Thursday, one day after a devastating fire ripped through its main arrivals hall and disabled East Africa’s busiest air transportation hub. Officials said they expected full operations to be restored by the end of the day.
Several international departures and arrivals had been completed at the airport, Jomo Kenyatta International, by midday Thursday and dozens were scheduled for late evening.
Kenya Airways, the country’s flagship carrier, was operating at around 35 percent of capacity, but was expected to return to full service by late Thursday, said Michael Kamau, the government transportation secretary.
“We expect that the normal flow of passengers will be restored from midnight,” Mr. Kamau said. “We are back on our feet.”
Cargo flights, which resumed in part on Wednesday evening, will be allowed to operate only from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. for the time being, Mr. Kamau added, giving priority to passenger aircraft until the backlog of flights has cleared.
Confusion still reigned, however, among the makeshift check-in counters, as thousands of passengers who had been left stranded Wednesday sought to find their way aboard flights.
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