WRITTEN BY JACK SLATER

Established in 1991 through a parliamentary act and tasked with responsibly managing all the airports and airstrips in the country, The Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) started life with a mission to become the number one airport system in Kenya. Seamless connectivity and the highest level of efficient facilities and services place their average well above stakeholder expectations and like this they have grown in leaps and bounds to become a major contender and a model for all their neighbours. I spoke with engineer Philemon Chandwana about it all.

STILL High Above THEIR COMPETITION

Based at the largest airport in East and Central Africa, KAA’s

offices are found at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport

(JKIA) in Nairobi. The airport originally had a passenger

handling capacity of 2.5 million, however, it now easily handles 6.5

million passengers a year which is a substantial increase which has

created a ripple effect through their organization and affiliated

businesses.

Two other airports that the KAA is also responsible for include

Moi international airport in Mombassa and Eldoret International

Airport. There are a number of smaller local and domestic airports

that the KAA is in charge of such as Wilson, Malindi, Kisumu, Wajir and

Lokichoggo and in addition to the airports, Kenya Airports Authority

also looks after close to 200 airstrips in the country.

Professionalism and teamwork are two of the Kenya Airport

Authority’s core values and the organisation invests significantly in

developing its 1,700-strong workforce. “Every employee, at least

once a year, gets some serious training with numerous refresher

courses,” says Philemon, “Our training programme is comprehensive

locally and overseas with particular focus on safety, security and

customer service,”

Everybody is is given safety awareness training and on the

security force is regularly refreshed and retrained so that they can

keep themselves at the top of their games, especially with those

responsible for the security of passengers boarding and disembarking.

The KAA is also going to train up ‘ERP Champions’ to coincide with

the launch of its new management tool. Champions will be selected

from each operational area; for example, finance, customer service,

KENYAN AIRPORT AUTHORITY

In the interests of kaizen (change for the better) Kenya Airports Authority continuously invest heavily into its facilities, workforce processes and the local community. Ultimately, the Authority is looking to turn Kenya into a ‘hub’ for Africa and have in many ways succeeded in doing that with Kenya receiving more international attention from global companies and decision makers looking to the region as an important destination for business and tourism.

Ogle Construction Co. Ltd is proud to be associated with the success of Kenya Airport Authority having constructed Wajir and Lodwar Airports along other Airstrips.

Ogle Construction has been nominated to receive CQE Award of 2014 in Geneva and was previously awarded Arch of Europe 2013 Award in recognition as a driver for quality & excellence.

Physical address: Garissa KenyaPostal address: PO Box 327 - 70100, Garissa, Kenya

Telephone: +254 722 516 840 Mobile: +254 722 516 840Email: info@ogle.co.ke

Our services: Project Management, Maintenance and Construction of Roadworks and Airports, Builders Works, Water and Surge Rehabilitation.

Physical address: Garissa KenyaPostal address: PO Box 327 - 70100, Garissa, Kenya

Telephone: +254 722 516 840 Mobile: +254 722 516 840Email: info@ogle.co.ke

human resources, and are then trained in South Africa on using the

new software.

Training is not enough, treatment is also of concern and the

employees at KAA receive both to a very high degree. Above average

pay, medical schemes, a bus service to take staff members to and from

work and a car and housing allowance for senior employees are some

of the incentives given.

“Those are some of the things that we are doing to ensure that

we are top notch, in terms of having a motivated workforce, but also

in terms of improving our facilities and our processes,” Philemon

specifies.

A great deal of capital is being invested into The KAA airports,

being put into terminal refurbishment, expansion and construction of

new runways. One of the biggest projects the Authority is presently

involved with is the major refurbishment

of the JKIA, and its overall cost has been

estimated at half a billion US dollars.

At the moment, the Jomo Kenyatta

International Airport consists of three

terminals and one runway. A fourth

terminal is currently being put together

and Philemon hopes this will be completed

by the end of the year.

He elaborates, “A second runway will

be build because having only one runway

is dangerous,” something that Endeavour

Magazine has seen in the past working

with Norwich International Airport, “The

building of a second strip will also give

us the chance to refurbish some of the

neighbouring facilities.”

Meanwhile, the KAA has just

completed full refurbishments of both

Kisumu Airport and Malindi Airport.

With such huge investments taking

place in the KAA’s processes, airport facilities and workforce, it seems

fair to predict that it will be successful in achieving both its mission

and vision. Specifically looking at the Jomo Kenyatta International

Airport, Kobuthi hopes the addition of a fourth terminal and second

runway will help it to more than double its passenger capacity.

“The aim is to be able to handle excess of 20 million passengers

a year at JKIA, in the next five years,” he says. “We are also working

towards attaining a category one status, which would mean that

anybody, including people from the US, can fly to Nairobi directly

which will be a significant boost to the economy.”

He concludes by saying: “I see Jomo Kenyatta as being the top

airport in the whole of Africa within five years.”

“The aim is to be able to handle excess of 20 million

passengers a year at JKIA, in the next five years. We are also working towards attaining a category one status, which would mean that anybody, including people from the US, can fly to Nairobi directly which will be a significant boost to the economy.”

www.littlegatepublishing.com

KENYAN AIRPORT AUTHORITY

WWW. KENYAAIRPORTS.CO.KE

+254 20 661 1000