Hoteliers in Diani seek upgrade of Ukunda Airstrip

Ukunda Airstrip’s inability to handle bigger aircraft has dimmed tourism in Diani, Kwale County, amid a rebound in travel.
Although Diani is endowed with one of the best beaches in Africa and also has world class hotels, accessing the holiday destination is a challenge due to lack of an airport and ferry problems on the Likoni channel.

The airstrip has a small runway of 1.4 kilometres and hoteliers currently on an expansion drive want a longer taxiway of at least 2.5 kilometres. “To revive tourism, it is important for the county to have an airport so that bigger aircraft can bring more tourists to enjoy our beaches and other tourism facilities,” said Bobby Kamani, the managing director of Diani Reef Beach Resort —which recently spent Sh200 million to build one of the largest conference facility at the coast.

“We have been missing opportunities of hosting the visitors  since the airstrip is incapable of handling huge passenger numbers as well as the problem of ferries on the Likoni channel,” he added. Visitors to Kwale enjoy beach walks in Diani and safari at the Shimba Hills Game Reserve which teems with elephants, among other wildlife.

Mr Kamani reckons that the expansion of the airstrip to an airport would boost tourist numbers in Diani as planes like Boeing with a capacity of 150 passengers would  fly directly from Nairobi to Ukunda.

International visitors rose to 877, 602 last year, up from 752,073 arrivals in 2015, reflecting a 16.7 per cent growth. Arrivals slumped 20 per cent in 2015, indicating a rebound.

Last month, Transport Principal Secretary Irungu Nyakera said plans were underway to relocate a school bordering Ukunda airstrip to allow expansion of the facility.

"We plan to extend the Ukunda airstrip’s runway from 1.4km to 2.5km.We are also going to build a new terminal building since the existing one is smaller,” he said.