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Jomo Kenyatta International Airport is the 2nd fastest growing airport in the world cargo ranking.
This has been revealed in the Airports Council International (ACI) latest World Airport Traffic Report, which highlights top airports for passengers, cargo and aircraft movements and showcases the world’s fastest-growing airports for 2018.
JKIA was ranked
2nd in the ‘Fastest Growing Airports (Handing over 250,000 metric tons of air
cargo)’ category, after handling over 342,000 metric tons of air cargo in 2018,
a 25% growth from the what was reported in the year 2017.
The airpot
has recently witnessed a significant boost in air cargo traffic to and from
Europe, Asia, America, and most recently China and Australia.
This is what culminated
in JKIA being an emerging force and destination in the air cargo industry.
Through
deliberate planning and embracing public and private sector participation, the
airport has registered a steady transformation in the way air cargo is managed.
In the last
few years, JKIA has seen the entry of several modern transit sheds, increasing its
annual overall cargo to 1.2 million tonnes.
Mitchell
Cotts, a leading cargo and logistics company, is currently constructing its new
shed at JKIA which once complete, will inject an additional annual capacity of
150,000 metric tonnes at the airport.
Astral
Aviation, a cargo airline operating from JKIA has in the last year acquired
three Boeing 747-400 cargo aircraft to boost its freight capacity and expand
its network.
“This award
validates our ongoing efforts in improving facilities at the JKIA Cargo area. I
would like to congratulate all our stakeholders for their collective and
ongoing efforts in making this possible,” KAA MD, Jonny Andersen noted.
He added, “This
is an exciting time for Kenya, the face of cargo is changing, and we are
positioning JKIA as the premier cargo distribution centre for online commerce
companies in the region.”
KQ Running JKIA
National
carrier Kenya
Airways which was interested in Running JKIA pulled out in September after
the National Assembly to reject the proposal on July 23.
KQ CEO
Sebastian Mikosz, however, says the Privately Initiated Investment Proposal
(PIIP) has catalysed discourse about the future of Kenya’s civil aviation.
“KQ’s Board
and Management believe that the PIIP has catalysed important discourse about
the future of Kenya’s civil aviation, which is now being led by the Government
of Kenya. Kenya Airways looks forward to continued collaboration with all
involved stakeholders of the process,” said Mikosz in a statement late on
Tuesday.
“The
Departmental Committee on Transport, Public Works and Housing of the National
Assembly collected views from Kenyans and institutions in the aviation sector
and submitted a report to parliament on June 17, 2019,” he added.
In rejecting
the proposal by KQ, the Committee recommended the establishment of an Aviation
Holding Company to consolidate the country’s aviation assets, including the
nationalisation of KQ.
Mikosz said the decision to withdraw was agreed on during the quarterly meeting of the Board of Directors held on August 27, 2019. The multi-billion loss-making airline had sought a concession to manage the airport to enable it to compete with competitors such as Ethiopian Airlines, which are heavily subsidised.
In its proposal, first submitted for formal consideration by Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) and the Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) Committee on October 5, 2018, the airline had proposed the creation a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to operate, maintain and develop JKIA.
Why MPs rejected KQ offer on JKIA
But MPs said the airline did not demonstrate that it has the financial capacity, relevant experience and the relevant expertise to manage JKIA as required by section 23 of the Public-Private Partnerships Act.
The David
Pkosing-led committee also observed that the proposed role of KQ in the
concession proposal creates a conflict of interest with regard to its dealings
with other airline operators at JKIA and may lead to the oppression of such
operators.
MPs also
observed that the implementation of the concession would result in the loss of
the regulatory certificate to operate JKIA and the last point of departure
clearance Kenya enjoys with regard to its direct flights to the United States,
noting that it would take years for Kenya to be audited again and be granted
similar approval.
The current
regulatory certificates issued with regard to JKIA are not transferable to a
third party.
Read >>
KQ
bosses suffer crushing defeat in bid to takeover JKIA
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