A section of JKIA’s Terminal 1A's new lounge in Nairobi. PHOTO | SALATON NJAU | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
Terminal 1A was officially opened in August and 80 per cent of Kenya Airways flights depart from it.
To ease congestion, the terminal has 32 self-service check-in kiosks and 10 seamless immigration counters.
With a sound-proof napping room that comes with dimming lights and piped music, JKIA’s Terminal 1A has transformed into a hang-out place and not a place to kill time. The plush lounge has cozy Italian furniture that blends with the African culture interior decor.
Just a few months ago, comfort was not something you sought in an airport lounge. But with aeroplanes now coming in equipped with sleep pods and massage chairs, airport lounges are raising their comfort bar and Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) is in a race to play catch-up with the likes of Charles de Gaulle Airport, Terminal 2E—the world’s most amazing waiting area.
With a sound-proof napping room that comes with dimming lights and piped music, JKIA’s Terminal 1A has transformed into a hang-out place and not a place to kill time. The plush lounge has cosy Italian furniture that blends with the African culture interior decor.
As you wait for your flight, your children can play in the kiddy zone or watch plasma-screen TV as you work in an area that has access to free Internet.
The Simba Lounge and Pride Lounge offer the airline’s executive guests premium hospitality. For smokers, there is a cigar lounge in the terminal. It also has a family lounge.
KQ flights
Terminal 1A was officially opened in August and 80 per cent of Kenya Airways flights depart from it.
“We will start handling international arrivals in the second quarter of 2015,” said Mbuvi Ngunze, the Kenya Airways chief executive officer.
With these changes, JKIA is hoping to shed the bad image. In 2011, the airport made it to the CNN Travel list of “10 of the world’s most hated airports.” CNN team ranks the airports after analysis of information posted on travel websites, blogs, message boards and own personal experiences.
Airports that feature on this list are congested, have unclear signage, impolite staff, overpriced food outlets and inadequate sitting space.
Designed to handle 2.5 million passengers annually, JKIA is currently handling 6.5 million, leading to difficulties in meeting international customer service standards. The Kenya Airports Authority has since recommitted its energy to ensuring customer satisfaction by expanding its passenger handling capacities.
The unveiling of Terminal 1A seeks to stamp this drive as it will handle a capacity of 1,500 passengers during peak time and 2.5 million passengers annually. The swanky new terminal has been designed with clear signage to allow free flowing passenger movements in a spacious environment to avoid unnecessary delays.
To ease congestion, the terminal has 32 self-service check-in kiosks and 10 seamless immigration counters.
However, what really captures the eye is the semi-circular three-storey monumental terminal building made of concrete frame and slabs with glazed curtain walling. The front view has clear signage of Terminal 1A.
Beautiful art
After clearance at the immigration counters on the ground floor, customers proceed to the escalators that wait to deliver them to first floor where the security checks are done. Beautiful works of art by Kenyan artists grace the walls on either side of the corridor. The drawings depict the national park complete with the wildlife and vegetation, interacting in a near perfect ecosystem.
The outer perimeter walls on the first floor are mainly made of glass that appears embedded with huge images of the lion, zebra, giraffe, ostrich and acacia tree. The sight of the big five gives passengers the feeling of the African savannah as they stare at the slanted glass walls with animals that seem to be in motion.
Unlike in the past, passengers will not go through strenuous and sometimes annoying security checks at each boarding gate. It has a centralised security screening area complete with full body scanners.
“There will be no secondary security screening at the gates,” said Elijah Miano, the corporate communications officer at the Kenya Airports Authority.
The terminal will have eight restaurants serving a variety of cuisines including African, Chinese as well as fast-food like pizza. The ultra-modern terminal is equipped with duty-free shops to stock a variety of products from Africa as well as high-end brands.
Monthly income
It will also have a bookstore, pharmacy, mini supermarket, passenger holding lounges, banks among other facilities. The terminal also has a parking garage which is currently being used as temporary arrivals area. Terminal 1A rental area is projected to generate an estimated monthly income of Sh15 million.
Construction of the terminal started in 2006. China National Aero-Technology International Engineering Corporation was contracted by government to design the new terminal that will be exclusively for use by Kenya Airways and its partner airlines.
The cumulative cost of constructing the terminal was Sh11 billion.
