Government To Use Ksh7 Billion On Moi International Airport Facelift

The government is set to use $70 million (Ksh7 billion) on Moi International Airport Mombasa upgrade.

This was announced by Transport CS James Macharia, who spoke during the groundbreaking ceremony for the rehabilitation of Airside Pavements and Airfield Ground Lighting System at the airport.

Macharia said the project is expected to take 24 months to be completed.

He said the last time the airport underwent major rehabilitation was in 1994.

The airport caters for 80 per cent of all the international tourists coming to Kenya, according to Macharia.

Tourism CS Najib Balala said that the airport has a capacity to handle over two million passengers annually, but only operates at 300,000.

“Currently, we have 15 charter flights coming to Mombasa every week, up from nine last year. But Moi International Airport cannot rely on charter business alone, we need more international scheduled airlines,” said Balala.

The last major rehabilitation done at Moi International Airport in Mombasa was done in 1994 by Pacific Consultants International PCI, a Japanese Company.

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The World Bank will also fund the consultants at the cost of $900,000 (Ksh90 million).

Currently, Ethiopia Airline, Rwanda Air and Turkish Airline are the only ones operating to Mombasa. Qatar Airways is expected to start direct flights to Mombasa on December 9.

French Ambassador to Kenya Aline Kuster-Menager, Mombasa Deputy Governor William Kingi and Changamwe MP Omar Mwinyi attended the event.