For a regional airport that has been operating on a single runway, you would think that the construction of a second runway at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport would be a top priority in any upgrading project. But alas, not for President William Ruto and his government.
It has now emerged that despite the government inking an upgrade deal worth Sh154.2 billion with Chinese company China Road and Bridge Corporation, no new runway shall be constructed at the JKIA.
In late 2025, an inspection by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) which was conducted in conjunction with the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) and the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) found that the airport’s single runway which is known as 06/24 was in a state of disintegration.
The disintegration has been noticed by pilots who have started raising alarm that the standards at the JKIA are not up to par. According to the report, the JKIA runway also has large amounts of rubber deposits on its touchdown zones which have been reducing friction and obscuring the markings on the centre-line. This report was dated June 2025.
To make matters worse, the inspection found potholes on the taxiway. “A huge pothole was observed on Taxiway ‘G’. Cracks and degeneration of the bitumen surface were also observed in several areas. This is the same with the apron and parking areas,” the report stated.
The report went on to detail how the centre-line on the runway and the touchdown markings were invisible. At the same time, it was found that the JKIA has not been conducting regular friction testing as required.
In the new upgrading project, instead of constructing a new runway, President Ruto and his government are planning to have additional taxiways built in order to get planes out of the runway as fast as possible after landing. This plan, they say, will increase arrival capacity from 25 per hour to 31 aircraft per hour.
READ MORE: JKIA’s single runway closed after KQ plane incident at airport
This will remain viable until 2029 when the system will choke up again with increased traffic and require another upgrade! So what will the Sh154.2 billion project cater to? Apparently, this project will include an improvement on the existing airfield, renovation and upgrade of existing passenger terminals, new passenger terminal and associated facilities.
Operating on a single runway, the JKIA would be forced to shut down and reroute landing aircrafts to other airports if an aircraft experienced a mechanical fault on the runway.
For instance, in the morning hours of April 17, 2023 when a Singapore Airlines B747 cargo plan developed problems while on the runaway. The plane’s engines reportedly caught fire, which caused eleven tyres to burst. This meant that the plane could not be towed from the runaway.
This forced the KAA to re-route planes that were schedule to land at JKIA since there was no other runway that could be used. Planes that were scheduled to depart were delayed.
Regionally, neighbouring countries have launched projects for the construction of brand new, bigger airports that are expected to dwarf the JKIA.
In Ethiopia, the Ethiopian Airlines Group is building a new airport that will be capable of serving 100 million passengers annually. The new airport is located in Bishoftu, some 40 kilometres outside of Addis Ababa. It is expected to be linked to the city by a planned passenger rail system.
In Rwanda, the country’s national carrier RwandAir has partnered with Qatar Airways and together, they are setting up a new international airport in the Bugesera region. In the new airport, Qatar Airways will be the majority shareholder with a 60 per cent stake. In the original plan, the airport, when complete was to be expected to have the capacity to handle 14 million visitors annually.
