A heartbreaking travel mess has left 113 Kenyan chess players aged 9 to 15 and their parents stuck at JKIA, hours after they were supposed to fly to Malaysia for the Commonwealth Schools Chess Championship.
The young players were scheduled to compete from October 5 to 12 after months of preparation. Their parents say they paid the required travel costs in August and arrived at the airport around 4:00 a.m., only to discover that the group’s tickets had not been properly secured.
Reports indicate 92 seats were cancelled after a payment to Qatar Airways was not fully settled. A second attempt to arrange flights through Emirates also failed after the travel agent could not raise the money needed to confirm the bookings.
By 9:00 p.m., the children were still at JKIA with no confirmed flights.
For the young players, this is more than a delayed trip. It could mean missing a competition they worked hard to qualify for.
Parents are now demanding clear answers on what happened to the money they paid
