The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) lifted, on November 19, a one-week suspension of the Dash-8 series aircraft operated by Silverstone Air Services (Nairobi Wilson), the authority said in a statement distributed on social media.
All Dash-8 aircraft operated by the carrier, namely two Dash 8-100s and four Dash 8-300s, had been grounded following three incidents between October 11 and 28, two of them at Nairobi Wilson Airport. Besides the De Havilland Aircraft of Canada turboprops, Silverstone also operates one CRJ100ER(F), four Fokker 50s, and three Fokker 50(F)s, according to the ch-aviation fleets module.
The Kenyan regional airline, which provides scheduled passenger flights and cargo services as well as medevac and general ad-hoc charters, had provided satisfactory corrective measures following compliance audits on its operations between October 25 and November 15, said Gilbert Kibe, the authority's director-general.
“KCAA will continue to undertake its continuous surveillance on the operator as they resume normal operations for the Dash-8 series aircraft effective November 19, 2019,” the statement said.
However, Silverstone Air said it was cancelling its scheduled operations, although all other operations were ongoing. It also issued a one-month redundancy notice to staff, explaining that it had been incurring losses following the original KCAA directive, Kenya's The Standard newspaper reported.
“Silverstone Air Service Ltd has become redundant. This decision has been made as a result of the recent decision by Kenya Civil Aviation Authority to ground the company’s fleet, thereby grounding our passenger service,” the notice said.
