IN SHORT: Renegade Air has successfully launched a new route in Kenya but false claims around that achievement have also flown on social media. Its first flight to Homa Bay county did not land on a dusty airstrip.
On 12 June 2023, Kenyan airline Renegade Air launched a new route, with the first flight headed to Kabunde airstrip in Homa Bay county in western Kenya.
The airline will be connecting travellers from the capital Nairobi to the county and back.
But just days after the launch, a video showing a plane landing on a dusty runway started circulating on Facebook. Most users claimed it showed the Kabunde airstrip and condemned its condition.
The video has also been posted here and here.
But does it show the runway in Homa Bay county? We checked.
Video is old
A reverse image search of a screenshot of the video revealed it was published on YouTube over 12 years ago on 4 December 2010.
The caption to the video says it shows a Douglas DC-6 plane on a makeshift landing strip in Pretoria, South Africa.
The caption also gives a link to another website which published more photos of the plane and details of the flight.
Renegade Air’s first flight from Nairobi to Homa Bay was recorded in a video posted by the company on Facebook. The airstrip and the type of plane in this video is different from the one seen in the claim.
The video circulating of a dusty airstrip does not show a Renegade Air flight or aeroplane.
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