A Kenya Airways flight from Nairobi to Cape Town suffered a tyre burst upon landing at Cape Town International Airport on Tuesday afternoon, triggering operational disruptions that forced arriving aircraft to be diverted and temporarily halted wide-body departures.
In a customer update, Kenya Airways confirmed that flight
KQ784
, operating a scheduled service from Nairobi, landed safely at approximately
3:30 p.m. local time
on August 4 before experiencing the tyre failure during landing.
"Kenya Airways PLC (KQ) confirms that on 04 August 2026, at approximately 15:30 Hrs local time, our flight KQ784, on a scheduled service from Nairobi to Cape Town, safely landed and experienced tyre burst upon landing," the airline said.
The airline said its crew responded in accordance with established safety procedures, ensuring that all passengers and crew members disembarked safely and were escorted to the airport terminal without incident.
"Our crew acted in accordance with their safety training. All passengers and crew have safely disembarked and have been taken to the airport terminal," Kenya Airways said.
Following the incident, the airline cancelled the return service,
flight KQ785
, to allow engineers and technical teams to inspect and repair the aircraft.
"As a result of this incident, we have cancelled the return flight KQ785 as our engineers and technical team work to get the aircraft fixed," the airline said.
Kenya Airways apologised for the inconvenience caused to passengers and thanked customers for their patience and cooperation.
"We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this incident has caused. We thank our customers for their patience, cooperation and support, and our crew for their professionalism. The safety and well-being of our crew and guests is always our top priority," the airline added.
The carrier said it would contact affected passengers directly to provide further assistance and alternative travel arrangements where necessary.
The incident also disrupted operations at Cape Town International Airport, with airport authorities announcing temporary restrictions as emergency and recovery teams worked to restore normal runway operations.
In an operational update, the airport said the tyre failure involving the Kenya Airways aircraft had affected runway availability.
"Cape Town International Airport is currently experiencing operational disruptions following a tyre failure involving Kenya Airways flight KQ784, which landed at approximately 15h25," the airport said.
The airport confirmed that all arriving flights were being diverted to alternative airports while domestic departures continued to operate. However, it said wide-body departures had been temporarily suspended until the runway was cleared and normal operations resumed.
"All arriving flights are currently being diverted to alternative airports. Domestic departures continue to operate, while wide-body departures are temporarily unable to operate until normal runway operations are restored," the airport said.
Airport authorities advised travellers to check the latest flight information before heading to the airport, warning that delays and diversions were likely until the situation was resolved.
"Further updates will be provided as they become available," the airport said.
Neither Kenya Airways nor Cape Town International Airport reported any injuries, and both organisations emphasised that passenger safety remained the overriding priority as recovery efforts continued.