Isiolo International Airport ready for use

Upgrading of Isiolo International Airport has been completed and operation is expected to commence fully in the next four weeks.

The US$16.4m project was launched by the Retired President, His Excellency Mwai Kibaki in 2013. The project has 1.4-km runway for Code C aircraft.

According to Johnny Andersen, Kenya Airport Authority (KAA) MD, the facility is an important link to the new transport corridor which the government is developing under the LAPSSET corridor project.

The refurbished world-class airport took five years to complete and becomes the fifth largest airport in Kenya. The airport has been built to the standard of other international airports namely Moi International Airport (Mombasa), Kisumu International Airport, Eldoret International Airport and Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.

Andersen noted that the airport occupies 800 acres and consists of a modern passenger terminal that can handle more than 125,000 passengers annually, including parking facilities that accommodate over 200 vehicles.

“This facility will play a key role in facilitating transport within the Horn of Africa region due to its strategic location,” said Johnny Andersen. “This region has huge untapped potential that require projects such as this one to be unlocked,” he added.

As part of KAA mandate to administer, control and manage Kenya’s aerodromes, the upgrading of Isiolo Airport is just one of several major projects that KAA has implemented across the country.

Besides the authority working toward attaining Vision 2030, which is a long-term national development blueprint, KAA’s expansion projects are guided by the urgent need to deploy world-class infrastructure facilities and services in Kenya. To achieve this, the country requires modern infrastructure facilities such as the Isiolo International Airport.

Isiolo airport has so far received several requests from a number of airlines including Fly 540 Air Kenya and Fly Sax to operate at the new airport though the number is expected to go up with time.