• The African Aviation Tribune •: ■ KENYA: (Pics) A Look at Lamu's Manda Airstrip's old and new facilities set for completion in May 2013.

Sunday, January 6, 2013

■ KENYA: (Pics) A Look at Lamu's Manda Airstrip's old and new facilities set for completion in May 2013.

Construction works at Manda Airstrip, located on Manda Island in the Lamu Archipelago in eastern Kenya, are progressing with completion expected in May of this year. The upgraded 2'000m long runway and new terminal will allow tourists to fly directly to Lamu from their respective countries. At present, tourists arriving on international flights have to clear customs and immigration formalities at either Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi, or Mombasa, or Malindi before flying into Lamu as a domestic flight.

Lamu Tourist Association vice chairman Alwy Ghalib said the upgrade of the runway could encourage international airlines to start flying between Lamu and various airports in Europe, Asia and America.

“We expect tourists to fly directly from their countries to Lamu instead of making cumbersome connection from Nairobi and Mombasa,” he said.

Source [VenturesAfrica]

Backround

Originally established between 1962-63 as a landing strip for Kenya's then British colonial administrators, the airstrip later developed around the early seventies, with a pioneer airline known as Avion Air offering basic air operations into Lamu.

Prior to upgrading, the airport had two runways: 16/34 - paved with asphalt and measuring 1'004x18m with an overrun of 600m of compact murram, and 08/26 - unpaved at 931x14m. This limits the type of aircraft that can operate to the field to ATR42, Dash 7&8s, Let 410s amongst others.

Air Kenya Express(P2), Safarilink(XLK), Fly540/fastjet (5H) and Mombasa Air Safari (RRV) all presently serve Lamu whilst Kenya Airways (KQ) has expressed interest in starting flights to the coastal town using its nascent LCC wing, Jambo Jet.

As Lamu's tourism potential has grown dramatically in recent years, so the airstrip has expanded, though thanks to accessible air travel the world over, it has today outgrown its once quaint, unique set up, thus necessitating the construction of a new terminal amongst other projects.

The owners of the aerodrome, the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) embarked on the USD11.5million (KSH1billion) expansion in 2010 with plans for a new terminal, a two-kilometre runway, a fire station, water supply and fencing to allow for the landing of larger aircraft.

With the new terminal now complete (overseen by Kenya's M&M Construction Consultants), all that remains is the extension of the main runway to 2'000m expected to be finished by May 2013.

Future prospects include the construction of an entirely new Lamu Port International Airport as by 2030, passenger traffic is estimated to be at 1.2 million passengers, including international 0.35 million and domestic 0.85 million; and 2,000 tons of cargos in total including 1,000 tons each for international and domestic.

The project builds on the ongoing infrastructure expansion programs by the KAA which include the expansion of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Malindi Airport, Lamu Airport and Moi International Airport in Mombasa. This is an important milestone in the Kenyan government’s efforts to upgrade and transform Kenya’s aviation infrastructure in line with its Vision 2030 economic transformation plan.