JKIA Greenfield terminal construction starts December, President says

The construction of the proposed Greenfield Terminal at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) is expected to begin in December 2013.

President Kenyatta made the announced Saturday after touring the new international arrivals terminal at the airport.

The terminal had previously been a parking garage but the Kenya Airports Authority converted it to a terminal to provide improved services for international passengers.

“The ground-breaking ceremony for the Greenfield project will be in December. We expect that the project will be fully operational within the next three years,” said the President

“ The construction of Terminal Four is also expected to be completed by December as we are keen to ensure that our country remains a major hub in the continent.

We now want to assure everyone, the airlines, and passengers that our operations are back to normal,” he added.

The President thanked everyone who assisted the government in getting the facility up and running after the fierce fire that gutted down the international arrivals terminal in August, 2013.

The Greenfield Terminal, which has a 5.5 kilometre runway, is expected to double the handling capacity of Kenya’s largest airport.

It is estimated to cost at least US$ 654 million (Sh55 billion).

JKIA currently handles about 6.5 million passengers annually.

Project tendering

The project had been riddled in controversy arising from the tendering process.

Two months ago Transport Cabinet Secretary Michael Kamau disbanded the committee which had been appointed by former Transport minister Amos Kimunya to oversee the expansion of the airport.

The project caused uproar after it emerged that the tender for the construction of the terminal was given to two Chinese companies by KAA management last December without the approval of the board and Mr Kimunya.

Two firms, Anhui Construction Engineering Group and state-owned China National Aero-Technology International Engineering Corporation, were eventually awarded the contracts after clearance by the Public Procurement and Oversight Authority.

On Friday, KAA’s Acting MD Lucy Mbugua said the newly-converted international arrivals facility will replace the previous temporary tented arrivals terminal set up four weeks ago at the JKIA State Pavilion.

“This International Arrivals facility at the JKIA Parking Garage has the capacity to handle the normal number of international passengers arriving at JKIA daily.

It also allows us to begin to remove the tents on the airside,” she said.

New terminal

“We are making arrangements to bring in a new prefabricated airport terminal because we are only using the JKIA garage as a temporary measure for the next four months.

We are also accelerating work on Terminal Four so that it is ready for use by end of the year,” Ms Mbugua stated.

After Terminal Four comes into operation, she said, Units 1, 2 and 3 will be reorganised and refurbished in line with earlier plans.

KAA also confirmed that the burnt down international arrivals terminal will be brought down and a new terminal constructed.

According to Ms Mbugua, the decision was based on recommendations from preliminary findings from on-going investigations.

“Investigations are still on-going and the final report on what caused the fire will be released by the relevant security agencies,” she stated.

She said that insurance assessment is still going on and that the authority is working well with its insurer, APA Insurance.

Ms Mbugua said they are working to ensure that domestic flight operations are returned to Unit 3 by the end of this month.

Currently, the domestic flights operate from the JKIA Cargo terminal.