Kenya’s determination to become a regional connecting hub has received a major boost following the partial opening of a new terminal at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).
Kenya’s national carrier, Kenya Airways, has already started operating from the new terminal, which is being constructed at a cost of $105-million
.The ultramodern Terminal 1A is expected to increase passenger traffic to 2.5 million a year, thus cementing Kenya’s position as the preferred connecting hub to the rest of Africa.
“One of the key attributes of the new Terminal 1A is that it separates arriving, transiting and departing passengers. This is an important feature of modern secure airports across the world,” says Transport Secretary Michael Kamau.
Terminal 1A, constructed by Chinese firm Wu Yi Co over four years, is part of a major expansion programme at JKIA aimed at bringing the airport to the same level as leading airports across the globe.
The expansion is critical to meeting increasing passenger numbers. Although the airport was originally designed to handle 2.5-million passengers a year, it now handles over 5.4-million passengers a year, and the figure is expected to grow at 6% a year.
Projections show the number of pas- sengers passing through JKIA will increase to 35.3-million by 2020, while the volume of cargo handled will increase from the current 227 165 t to 939 650 t.
The new terminal has an extended parking area for an additional 1 500 vehicles, 32 check-in counters, seven boarding bridges and a completely automated baggage handling system.
“We envisage that the terminal will be able to handle one-way peak-hour traffic of 1 500 passengers,” says Kamau.
The new terminal is expected to become fully operational in 2015.