Dutch airline KLM has been forced to apologise for publishing misleading information about potential civil unrest in Kenya and Tanzania, which prompted furious rebukes from government officials.

KLM had published a notice on its website on January 27, stating that due to “civil unrest in Tanzania and Kenya…some of our flights to, from or via Dar es Salaam (DAR), Kilimanjaro (JRO), Zanzibar (ZNZ) and Nairobi (NBO)”, may be affected until January 30.

KLM’s notice came on the back of a similar alert from the US Embassy advising US citizens and other citizens in Dar es Salaam to remain vigilant of terror threats.

The airline has since contacted the Kenyan government, admitting that the advisory for the country had been erroneously published, and also apologised to Tanzania’s government for “incorrectly describing” the reason to halt flights to Dar es Salaam. The apologies were in response to strong admonishments from the governments of both countries.

“We are sorry we did not describe the reason why we had to decide not to let our crew stopover in Dar es Salaam for now correctly. The use of the phrase ‘civil unrest’ was wrong, for which we sincerely apologise,” said KLM Tanzania Country Manager Alexander van de Wind in the apology issued to Tanzania’s Minister of Works and Transport Makame Mbawara.

Van de Wind clarified, however, that the airline still had reason to issue the warning, due to a security issue that it could not elaborate on.

“A specific local threat has prompted us to make this decision. We cannot give further details about this security issue.”

Government issues safety assurances

Tanzania’s Ministry of Information, Communication and Information Technology had issued a statement assuring all embassies, international organisations, companies, institutions, foreigners and the general public that the country was free from any civil unrest or terrorist threats.

"The government of Tanzania has noted with great concern the false claims being spread by some foreign institutions and companies that there is civil unrest in Tanzania. Our agencies remain vigilant to ensure the safety and protection of individuals and their property," reads part of the statement.

Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Roads and Transport Kipchumba Murkomen also issued a statement decrying the “unfounded, false, insensitive and misleading information”.

“Kenya and the Netherlands enjoy very good diplomatic relations and KLM as a company is highly regarded in the country. We are therefore shocked that the airline would spread such fabricated, malicious and false allegations without fact-checking and considering the probable effects to our country’s image and economy,” said Murkomen.

He said, despite KLM withdrawing the notice for Kenya, government would still escalate the discussion through diplomatic channels to ensure that such incidents did not recur.