Airport has grown significantly since ‘58

JKIA has expanded rapidly since May 1958 when the first flight took off from its runway.
Wednesday’s fire came at a time when the ongoing expansion to modernise the airport was nearing completion. The project started in 2006.

Though it used to handle only 250,000 passengers annually when it opened, the airport is now the largest in the region. The numbers have grown from 1.5 million in 1960 to four million today, overshooting the projected 2.5 million passengers annually.

The expansion funded by the Kenya Airports Authority is being undertaken by several Chinese firms.

Among the new installations under construction is a Sh8 billion terminal that would have seen the airport handle even much bigger planes — including direct flights from the US.

In 1978 the airport, until then known as Embakasi, was renamed the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport after the country’s founding president.

Its first expansion study project was undertaken by Sir Alex Gibb and Partners, a British engineering firm which came up with a report on air traffic forecasts and the master plan which has largely informed the ongoing expansion.

The airport is located 18 kilometres from the capital and stands on close to 70 acres.

The ongoing expansion will double the size of the airport from 236,662 to 552,222 square metres.