Kenya has launched a tender for the construction of a new airport adjacent to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi, the country’s transport minister said.
In November 2024, Kenyan President William Ruto ordered the cancellation of a procurement process that had been set to grant control of JKIA to India’s Adani Group, following the indictment of its founder, Gautam Adani, in the US.
Under the proposed deal worth nearly $2bn (about R32.7bn), the Adani Group was to add a second runway at JKIA and upgrade the passenger terminal in exchange for a 30-year lease.
Roads and transport minister Davis Chirchir said in a statement late on Tuesday that airport operator Kenya Airports Authority issued a tender to build a new airport next to JKIA and to upgrade the existing airport’s facilities.
Kenya’s government has previously stated that JKIA is operating beyond capacity and requires modernisation but emphasised that the airport was not for sale.
As of 2025, JKIA handled about 9-million passengers, above its design capacity of 7.5-million passengers annually, Chirchir said.
The tender is for the construction of a new passenger terminal to handle 10-million passengers annually and develop new taxiways, among other things.
Neighbouring Ethiopia is also constructing a new airport, which officials say will be Africa’s biggest upon completion in 2030.
Reuters
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