Kenyan Airport Upgrade To Cost N29BILLION

Kenya’s largest airport is set to be upgraded thanks to the provision of $186million (N29billion)in funding from two sources: Agence Française de Développement (the French Development Agency) and EIB: the European Investment Bank.

Jomo Kenyatta International Airport is Africa’s sixth-busiest in terms of passenger numbers and takes its name from Jomo Kenyatta, the first Prime Minister of Kenya. Two airlines are based there - Fly540 and Kenya Airways – and they, along with approximately 30 others, operate off the airport’s single runway, which extends to over 13,000 feet in length.

Jomo Kenyatta International Airport: Kenya

The airport has been active for over five decades and was originally known as Nairobi Embakasi Airport. Plans to expand Jomo Kenyatta International Airport first surfaced in late 2005 and coincided with the release of new data, which showed that annual passenger levels had surpassed the four million level: over 1.5 million beyond actual capacity.

With finance now in place, the Kenyan airport’s three existing terminals will be upgraded, and a new one, Terminal 4, added to complement the present structures. The airport expansion will be delivered across four phases, as follows:

• Phase 1 – The ground will be made ready for Terminal 4
• Phase 2 – Terminal 4 will be constructed
• Phase 3 – Terminals 1, 2 and 3 will be enhanced
• Phase 4 – New taxiways will be created to support future capacity growth

Airport Upgrades 

Once the airport upgrades are complete, Jomo Kenyatta International will potentially be able to have 9.3 million passengers pass through every 12 months. The new airport deal was agreed on 21 June 2010 and, at a ceremony held to mark it, Plutarchos Sakellaris – Vice President at EIB – highlighted how the improvements would “...provide an efficient transport link that acts as a key building block for strong economic growth in Kenya.”Jean-Pierre Marcelli, the director of the French Development Agency, added: “Successful completion of the project and ensuring minimal inconvenience for passengers will benefit East Africa’s leading transport hub and improve links to the wider world.”

Airport International