Tough road for JKIA as cargo, passenger numbers decline

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Underutilised capacity at JKIA has previously been blamed for the dwindling volumes of cargo at the facility.
The cargo capacity at JKIA is 5,000 tonnes a week but only 3,000 is utilised every week as the rest lies idle.

Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) recorded a decline in the number of passengers, cargo and aircraft in March compared with the same period last year, bringing to doubt its status as a major regional hub.

Data from the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) indicates that the number of passengers in the period under review reduced by six per cent to 530,000 from 560,000 in the same period last year.

The volume of cargo handled at the airport also went down by two per cent to 20.3 million tonnes from 20.7 million tonnes in March last year.

Subsequently, aircraft movement declined by 0.4 per cent to 9,196 in March compared with 9,232 in the corresponding period in 2016.

“Jomo Kenyatta International Airport’s passenger throughput in March 2017 decreased by six per cent from the figure recorded same month in 2016 to hit 530,439 passengers,” says airports statistics for March.

“Aircraft movement decreased by 0.4 per cent to record a movement of 9,196 aircraft over the same period, while the amount of cargo handled decreased by 2 per cent to stand at 20,372,883.0 Kgs recorded over the period under review,” adds the report.

Underutilised capacity at JKIA has previously been blamed for the dwindling volumes of cargo at the facility. The cargo capacity at JKIA is 5,000 tonnes a week but only 3,000 is utilised every week as the rest lies idle.

The decline comes at a time when Kenya has embarked on expansion spree of the facility as it targets to make it a major transit hub for both regional and other flights outside Africa.

New arrival terminals 1E and 1A are currently operational at the JKIA, marking a major step in the ongoing expansion and modernisation of the region’s busiest airport, with passenger arrivals projected to climb.

The government has set aside Sh8.5 billion for the modernisation of JKIA in this year’s budget to be used in expanding terminal 1B, C and D.

Plans are also afoot to construct the second runway to enable the airport to handle larger aircrafts as the current one has no capacity.

Mombasa-based Moi International Airport recorded an impressive performance in the period under review with the cargo sector growing significantly.

The report indicates that the volumes of cargo handled grew by 103 per cent from 153,000 to 311,000 in March this year.

Passenger movement increased by three per cent to 114,003. Coastal Kenya is a favourite tourist destination among the locals and international visitors, with most of them landing at JKIA before transiting to Mombasa.

The airport will receive a major boost next year following plans by Qatar Airways to launch direct flights between Mombasa and Doha next year.

The Middle East carrier, which already operates daily flights to Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), says Mombasa is among the 12 new destinations it will launch in 2018.

The State-owned Qatar joins international carriers such as Ethiopian Airlines, Turkish Airlines and RwandAir which currently fly directly into the coastal city of Mombasa.