Kenya Airports Authority Upgrades JKIA, Completes Repairs Of Burnt Terminal. - By Marvel ADEYEMI & Ewos IRORO

 

Kenya is expanding and upgrading the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, a key gateway into the East African region, to cater for projected traffic, as it enhances its role in linking up the continent to the rest of the world.

The airport currently handles 6.5 million passengers every year, with passenger traffic projected to grow at a rate of 12 per cent per annum. In addition to this, it also handles 300 million kilogrammes of cargo annually, with an average growth rate of 10 per cent per annum.

In addition to ongoing work on a new Terminal Four, which will inject an additional annual capacity of 2.5 million passengers, the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) is also set to commence work on a new Greenfield Terminal with a capacity of 20 million passengers per year.

 “At the moment, we are able to handle both arriving and transiting traffic at the airport. We are aiming to have Terminal Four operational by end of this year; and to break ground for the construction of a new state-of-the-art Greenfield Terminal in the next six months,” said Edward Kobuthi, the JKIA Airport Manager.

 

After Terminal Four comes into operation, Mr Kobuthi told journalists after a tour of the airport, the existing Units 1, 2 and 3 will be reorganized and refurbished in line with earlier plans for JKIA.

 

Addressing the journalists, Kenya Airways Chief Operating Officer Mbuvi Ngunze, said that the airport expansion and upgrading works fit well with the airline’s growth strategy.

“The first priority for Kenya Airways is Africa, and our strategy is to be able to serve every African country. At the moment, a significant number of passengers travelling within Africa and to the outside world pass through Nairobi. With the ongoing growth and expansion, we expect to carry even more people,” Mr Ngunze added.

A dawn fire in August destroyed a section of the airport’s arrivals terminal. However, measures have been taken to provide improved services for international passengers. This includes conversion of the parking garage into a temporary International Arrivals terminal, which replaced the previous temporary tented International Arrivals set up for four weeks at the JKIA State Pavilion.

Besides the newly converted International Arrivals (JKIA Parking Garage), the authority has also reopened Unit 2 from which all flights by national carrier, Kenya Airways, will operate from. Temporary tents set up on the JKIA airside have come down as the authority continues to move operations into the re-opened buildings. At the same time, KAA said that it is working with development partners such as the World Bank and the African Development Bank to construct a temporary International Arrivals on the JKIA airside and to import a temporary Airport terminal.

“We are making arrangements to bring in a new prefabricated airport terminal because we are only using the JKIA garage as a temporary measure for the next four months. We are also accelerating work on Terminal Four so that it is ready for use by end of the year,” Mr Kobuthi stated.