The Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) is set to pump Sh350 million ($3.5 million) to fix potholes at the Airport in a bid to reduce increasing number of plane mishaps at the facility.
Wilson Airport is one of the busiest airports in terms of aircraft movement in East and Central Africa. Domestic flights constitute 90% of the total flights from the Airport with international flights accounting for 10%.
However, in recent months cases of air mishaps including aircrafts skidding off the runway have been on the rise, casting a bad light at the government agency.
Local air operators have pointed at the potholed runways as the cause of the punctures at the airport that have led to some planes skidding off the runways.
The latest incident, which took place a few weeks ago, involved a SafariLink plane carrying 10 passengers which veered off the runway after a tyre burst, leading to the closure of the airport for 30 minutes.
Kenya Civil Aviation Authority director-general Gilbert Kibe told the media on Friday that major works on the project will start once local firms with planes exceeding seven tonnes operating at Wilson airport relocate to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).
“The immediate requirement for major rehabilitation at Wilson Airport is Sh350 million. This is what we require for now,” said Mr Kibe.
Mr Kibe, however did not give a specific timeline within which he expects work on the project to be finished.
“We are working with the support of the Kenya Airport sAuthority on this project. They are determined to do it,” he said.
Destinations served from the Airport include Maasai Mara, Mombasa, Amboseli, Lamu, Kilimanjaro Diani, Lokichogio and Nanyuki.
