Airport news: Jomo Kenyatta International Airport may receive 2nd runway

(eTN) – The Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) has at last moved forward in their considerations of a second runway for Kenya’s main international airport, Jomo Kenyatta International in Nairobi.

(eTN) – The Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) has at last moved forward in their considerations of a second runway for Kenya’s main international airport, Jomo Kenyatta International in Nairobi. At peak hours, the runway is almost fully utilized with take offs and landings, and any incident on the runway is presently shutting down East Africa’s main aviation gateway, leading to flight diversion, delays, and cancellations of flights.

The present ongoing upgrade and rehabilitation had left a second runway out of their scope, to the chagrin of aviation experts, who have for years advocated for and demanded an alternative runway, but until a committee was formed last week to look seriously into this, KAA had taken no visible action.

Of the other main airports in the region, only Entebbe has a second, albeit shorter, runway to facilitate emergency operations, and with Nairobi being the main gateway in the region, the expansion cannot come soon enough for airlines and passengers alike.

The feasibility study will take several months to complete, and aviation sources in regular contact with this correspondent claim a second runway could at the very earliest be in place by 2015, if a decision is made swiftly and funding can be secured.

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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