JKIA Modernisation Advances With Engineer-Consultant Contract Signing

Kenya has signed an Engineer-Consultant Contract for the modernisation of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, appointing Dar Al-Handasah Consultants to oversee design review, project management, contract administration and construction supervision for the works.

Roads and Transport Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir witnessed the signing, describing it as a significant step in the government's plan to transform JKIA into a world class aviation hub capable of handling growing passenger and cargo volumes.

Dar Al-Handasah, an international engineering and aviation consultancy with prior work on projects including King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, has been involved with JKIA since preparing its Integrated Master Plan and Feasibility Study, completed in February 2026.

The modernisation programme addresses an airport that has long outgrown its design limits. JKIA handled about 8.93 million passengers in 2025, well beyond its designed capacity of 7.5 million, with numbers projected to reach 22.3 million annually by 2045.

Air cargo volumes are expected to follow a similar trajectory, rising from roughly 407,214 tonnes in 2025 to about 860,400 tonnes by 2045, more than doubling over the same twenty year period.

The programme is structured in two concurrent phases. The first focuses on upgrading the existing runway, adding a partial parallel taxiway, two exit taxiways and a runway end exit taxiway, alongside expanded terminal facilities and digitised passenger processing systems, targeting capacity of 12 million passengers annually within 18 months.

The second phase involves construction of a new parallel runway roughly 4,500 metres long and a new passenger terminal building, eventually pushing total annual capacity toward 15 million passengers.

Beyond the airport itself, the government has outlined plans for an accompanying Airport City and Special Economic Zone around JKIA, envisioned to include hotels, business parks, offices, conference facilities and light manufacturing space.

The project has not been without controversy. A Privately Initiated Proposal involving the Adani Group was formally cancelled earlier this year, and reports in April linked the eventual construction contract, valued at between Sh150 billion and Sh180 billion, to Chinese firms including China Road and Bridge Corporation and Sinohydro, a claim that drew scrutiny in Parliament over the transparency of the procurement process.

Chirchir has said the modernisation programme is government funded and implemented according to established public sector procedures, with construction works targeted to begin in the coming months.

The signing of the engineer-consultant contract marks a shift from planning into active project delivery, with Dar Al-Handasah now responsible for translating the design ambitions of the master plan into a supervised construction programme.