Nairobi — The Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) has given Lamu's Manda Bay Airport a clean bill of health following the suspension of Kenya Airways flights to the Island allegedly because of a damaged runway.

A manager at the Authority, Yatich Kangogo, said the runway has been found to be safe and all other flights to the Island were on schedule.

He said only KQ planes have found the runway unsafe for their flights.

"The kind of planes that they use have, over time, scratched some areas of the runway, making them risky to land on," said Mr Kangogo.

KQ said in a statement that it temporarily suspended its operations to Lamu to allow KAA to repair the runway.

"We constantly evaluate the condition of the airports where we operate. The Lamu runway is unsafe for our operations in its current condition," said airline chief executive Titus Naikuni.

He gave an assurance that the airline would resume flying to the airport once repairs are finalised.

Kenya Airways operates daily flights to Lamu using a 35 seater SAAB 340 aircraft.

Mr Kangogo said the other flights operated by Mombasa Air Service (Charter), Air Kenya, Fly540 and Safari Link are on course and have not reported any problems.

However, following the complaint raised by KQ, top KAA officers including Mr Kangogo went to Lamu to check on the runway.

It was found that the planes operated by KQ had scraped the last stretch of the one-kilometre runway.

The planes need a long stretch to turn and when they turn, the tyres scrub the runway, leaving marks. A stretch of 60 metres has been closed as repair operations go on.

At the same time, KAA has written an official complaint to the Kenya Association of Air Operators over the action taken by KQ, saying it created the wrong impression.

Manda Island is located off the east coast in the Indian Ocean and it is part of the Lamu Archipelago. The only access to it is by boat or air. The island is popular with tourists who have been flocking the area in the recent past.

At the same time, Mr Naikuni has announced that Kenya Airways has taken delivery of the second of three Embraer 170 Long Range jets.

The jet, he said, arrived on September 8 and made its maiden test flight to Malindi on September 12.

The jet bears the registration 5Y-KYJ and will mainly operate to the regional destinations of Malindi, Mombasa, Zanzibar and Dar es Salaam, he said.

The Embraer is configured in a comfortable single class layout, seating 72 passengers.

It has four doors and three cabin crew seats, four abreast, with two toilets.

The Embraer aircraft are new entrants into the top end of the regional jet airliner market.