• The African Aviation Tribune •: ■■ KENYA: (Pics) A look at Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta International Airport's proposed Terminal 4 currently being built.

Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta International Airport Project Greenfield & Terminal 4

[UPDATE 16 APRIL] Now that all the dust has settled following a protracted court case involving accusations of favoritism and bribery in the awarding of the tender for Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport's (JKIA) new Terminal 4 and future Greenfield Terminal and a second runway expansion planned, construction has finally started, though when the entire project will be completed, is anyone's guess.

Background

Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta Airport in the 1990s

Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta Airport before construction of T4

First opened in May 1958, Nairobi Embakasi Airport as it was then known, was designed to handle a maximum of 2.5 million passengers a year. An additional terminal, known as the Embakasi Terminal, was built in the 60s and now serves as the cargo area and as the Kenyan Air Force training facility. In 1972, a new international and domestic passenger terminal building was added on the other side of the current lone runway, using World Bank funding.

The airport handled 4,922,542 passengers in 2008, leading the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) to consider expanding Jomo Kenyatta International in order to prolong its lifespan until at least 2024 (when projections expect over nine million passengers a year).

Additionally, the airport serves as a very important cargo hub for East Africa with cargo handled at the airport increasing from 192'300t in 2004 to 220'900t in 2005, despite the terminal being designed to handle only 200'000t annually.

As a hub for national carrier Kenya Airways (KQ), adequate handling capacity is critical to the carrier's long term expansion plan, as outlined in its 10 year strategic plan, Project Mawingu. In it, KQ's current fleet of Boeing 737-800s will grow from the present 5 aircraft to 10 by 2014/15 and to 18 by 2018/19. Its fleet of B777s will grow from 4 each to 12 each overall. Network-wise, from its current 55 destinations in 45 countries on 4 continents KQ intends to serve 115 destinations in 77 countries on all continents, all out of its Nairobi hub.

JKIA Current Status Quo

Jomo Kenyatta International Airport's terminal has 3 units that cater for both arrivals and departures. Units 1 and 2 are mainly used for international flights whereas unit 3 is mainly used for domestic flights.

Departing passengers check-in through units 1 and 2 depending on their destinations. Both units have airline check-in counters that operate on a Common Use Terminal Equipment (CUTE) system, and immigration desks at the ground floor where passengers are cleared before they proceed to the departure lounge in the first floor via escalators or lifts.

There are eight departure gates with boarding bridges. Arriving international passengers enter via the same gates into a concourse which leads to immigration counters at the first floor before coming to the baggage hall situated in the ground floor.

Project Greenfield & Terminal 4 Specifications

JKIA long term vision (with Phase 3 included)

Nairobi JKIA long term vision (with Phase III & 2nd Runway included)

Overall, the expansion project was divided into three phases to avoid disrupting the airport's operations. In subsequent phases the airport is set to have a new parking lot to accommodate 1'500 cars, airfield lighting and apron flood lights.

The first phase of the project involved a taxiway, apron construction, civil works for the new terminal building, extension of the fuel hydrant system and fencing and was started in September 2006 and completed in mid-2008. It was originally expected to be complete by 2007, but delays due to rains, shortage of cement and delivery of equipment set the project back.

The second phase, which started in mid-2008, includes the construction of Terminal 4 and a car parking facility that can accommodate 1,500 cars.

In the third phase, Terminals 1 and 2 and the international arrivals complex will be renovated. The new mega terminal will also be added bringing the airport's carrying capacity to over 8million passengers/year.

Terminal 4

In October 2005, the Kenya Airports Authority announced the final plans for the expansion of JKIA. The new Terminal 4 building will double the current size of JKIA from 25,662m² to 55,222m² and will have a capacity of 20million passengers per year. The new terminal will handle one-way peak hour traffic of 1,500 passengers.

Aircraft parking, which has been a major problem in the past, will be improved by an increase in apron space from 23 parking stands at 200,000m² to 43 aircraft stands at 300,000m², with additional taxiways to be constructed. There will be 32 contact and 8 remote gates and even a Railway terminal is planned in future.

The arrivals and departures sections are now to be totally separated for increased security (a precondition for future US-bound flights) through the construction of an additional floor which will add another 23,500m² of floor space.

The departures section will have 50 international and 10 domestic check-in counters with existing waiting areas to be renovated.

An extended apron from terminal 4 to the new cargo village will increase its capacity handling from three to eight wide-bodied aircraft simultaneously.

It is still under debate at government level as to whether the airport needs a second runway. An incident earlier this year in which an Egyptair A320 skidding off the runway on touchdown and subsequently causing the entire airport to shut down, highlighted the urgent need for a second runway at JKIA.

Currently there is only one runway (06/24) which is 4'117m (13,507ft) paved in asphalt and ILS (Instrument Landing System) equipped. The current runway is sufficient to accommodate over 80'000 landings and take-offs a year but at the moment the number is only 60'000.

■ Source [Kenya Airports Authority Yearbook 2011/2012]

■ Source [Airport Technology]

Greenfield Terminal

Architectural design was awarded to M. Arthur Gensler Jr. & Associates, Inc., referred to as Gensler, an American design and architecture firm.

Construction of the controversial USD653 million (Sh56 billion) Greenfield terminal could start next year (2013) with the Kenya Airports Authority expecting to close the financing deals by Christmas 2012. Work at the terminal is now expected to start in November 2013.

Proposed Greenfield Terminal Interior View

Note! Since the publication of this article, London-based Pascall & Watson Architects have been awarded the design contract, rendering the below designs obsolete. However, for posterity's sake they will be left up and once P &W publishes their own, so they will be added.

Nairobi JKIA Airport Greenfield Terminal

Costs & Finances

Greenfield Terminal Complex

Tender awarded to Chinese firm Anhui Construction
Construction expected to begin in November 2013 and be completed in 2017
The entire Project Greenfield is slated to cost USD640million.

Terminal Four

Construction started in August 2010.
Completion expected in August 2013. Progress is at 56 per cent currently.
Total cost USD110million (KSh9.3 billion) with World Bank contributing USD14million.

Second runway

Design started in August 2012.
Construction set to start in June 2013.
Expected cost USD150million (KSh12.7 billion)

Renovation of Terminals 1, 2 and 3

Phase III will cost USD92 million. Under this phase, Terminals 1 and 2 and the international arrivals complex will be renovated.
Detailed design in progress
Work to begin after terminal 4 is completed

Phase II was financed by the KAA at a total cost of USD40.2 million. In addition, European Investment Bank and Agence Francaise de Developpment will provide USD186million towards the expansion of airport.

Source [The Nation]

Consultants & Architects

In 2004, a Canadian-Kenyan consortium led by Queen's Quay Architects International Inc (Q2) and including Mueller International Inc (Sypher) won the consulting contract for the renovation and forecasted expansion requirements for JKIA. The JKIA consulting team also included Kenyan architects and engineers Mruttu Salmann & Associates, Chal Consult, Muambi Associates, Otieno Odongo & Partners, WestConsult, M&E Consulting Engineers, and Lariak Landscapes.

Following much bickering and infighting, China's Anhui Construction was awarded the actual construction tender.