Plans underway to construct modern JKIA terminal -Transport CS Murkomen

Transport Cabinet Secretary (CS) Kipchumba Murkomen has announced plans by the government to construct a new, state-of-the-art terminal at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).

Murkomen made the announcement on Thursday during a ceremony to mark the inauguration of the newly-appointed Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) Board of Directors.

According to the CS, the move is informed by the fact that JKIA has stretched its capacity to serve passengers leading to inefficiencies and breakdown in systems.

“Being a key port of entry for Kenya, it is critical that we work on a Public-Private Partnership model that will facilitate the expansion of JKIA to include a new terminal and a new runway to double the airport’s capacity and move the list of the best airports in the world," said the Transport CS.

“With the terminal comes the increased capacity to handle more planes and passengers, hundreds of jobs for Kenyans, a boost in tourism, increased trade and investment and enhanced regional integration."

Murkomen similarly urged the KAA board to work in tandem with the government, relevant stakeholders and investors to realise the establishment of the modern terminal.

The CS further challenged the board to review the KAA Act. 1991 to be in synchrony with current developments in the aviation sector and seal leakages in revenue collection through the automation of its systems in line with the directive issued by President William Ruto.

He further called on the derivation of innovative ways that will make Kenya’s airstrips and other airports financially sustainable to prevent overreliance on revenue collected from JKIA while urging the board to review systems and protocols in order to boost both physical and cyber security at JKIA and other airports in the country.