Kenya Airways says court halts worker strike plans

* Industrial court temporarily stops planned strike

* Defiant union says strike to go on from Thursday

By Duncan Miriri

NAIROBI, Aug 11 (Reuters) - A Kenyan court has temporarily stopped a planned strike by workers at national carrier Kenya Airways (KQ) (KQNA.NR), the airline said on Tuesday.

Some 3,000 cabin crew, ground staff and engineers have threatened to cripple operations at one of Africa's largest airlines from Thursday, demanding a 130 percent wage hike.

"We urge all our customers to remain calm as we await the settlement of this dispute in accordance with the law," KQ's Chief Executive Titus Naikuni said in a statement.

The court barred the workers from striking until both parties attend a hearing next Monday.

But Aviation and Allied Workers Union, the workers' body, said the strike would go ahead because the airline had previously ignored rulings from the court handed in favour of union members.

The union's general secretary Jimi Masege said KQ ignored a ruling by the same court handed out last month ordering the reinstatement of 300 cabin crew staff who had been laid off.

"It is tit for tat," Masege told Reuters on telephone.

The airline's head of marketing and communication said he was not aware of the earlier ruling that Masege referred to.

The airline made its first loss for the year ended March since privatisation in 1996 as a result of fuel hedges. [ID:nL58257]

Air France-KLM (AIRF.PA) owns 26 percent of KQ, while the government of Kenya has a 23 percent stake. (Additional reporting by Humphrey Malalo, editing by Will Waterman)