According to recent news reports the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA), will be building an airport in Nakuru county. This is coming after the establishment finally decided on a contractor for the project.
The project which will cost a total of 3 billion Kenyan Shillings, will be located at the 81Tanks Battalion barracks.
It will also see the Lanet Airstrip get upgraded to a state of the art international airport suitable for civilian air traffic and at par with today’s standards.
The Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) revealed that the construction which is in partnership with the Nakuru county government, will be executed in two phases.
The first phase whose cost will be covered by the county government, will include the construction of a fence, a terminal building, a 1.7 kilometre runway, the rehabilitation of the airstrip’s existing runway to ensure it meets current bitumen standards, a military lounge, construction of taxiways, a substation for power, a building for firefighting and air rescue, civilian and military gates, as well as a patrol road.
For the second phase, concentration will be on expanding the 1.7 kilometre runway to 3.6 kilometres in order to make sure the airport will be able to cater to much larger aircrafts of around 40 to 100 tonnes.
The airport is expected to open up Nakuru to the rest of the world and through increased exports and tourism, boost the county’s economy.
While the county currents supplies around 70 percent of Kenya’s entire flower exports, it has for so long made use of ferries and refrigerated trucks for transportation of its goods to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport which is over 100 kilometres away, when ever it’s time for exportation.
Ongoing construction of the Naivasha Inland Container Depot, the soon to be constructed industrial park along with the airport, will further place Nakuru in the running to become one of the commercial hubs in East Africa.
Naivasha has already become a distribution point for cargo and is expected to record an increase in the transportation sector, the hospitality sector and the housing sector.
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