My Africa Today

On the 14th October 2005, the Kenya Airports Authority announced their plans to expand Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. Over the next two years, the authority announced that it would improve airport facilities across Kenya, especially at Nairobi.

The expansion project was prompted as Jomo Kenyatta annual passenger flow topped 4 million, as the airport was only constructed to handel 2.5 million passengers.

In the expansion, the airport's size will be more than doubled, from 25,662 sq metres to 55,222 sq metres. Aircraft parking, which is currently constrained, will be increased from 200,000 square metres to over 300,000 square metres, and additional taxiways will be included. The arrivals and departures section would be fully separated, and the waiting area would be revamped.

The expansion would increase the airport's capacity to 9 million from 2.5 million. The project will cost the Kenya Airports Authority $100million. The World Bank will provide $10million.

It is currently being debated in government if Jomo Kenyatta Intl Airport should build a second runway. This followed an incident that closed the only operational runway for 1 day.