JKIA named best improved airport in Africa

NAIROBI: Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) has been named the best improved airport in service delivery in the continent.

The Airports Council International (ACI) Tuesday recognized JKIA for its excellence in customer service by naming it as the best-improved airport in Africa in the prestigious 2015 Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Awards.

This recognition was bench marked to the airport's on-going commitment to service excellence.
JKIA emerged winner in the Best Improved by Region-Africa Category in what is considered as the aviation industry's most comprehensive passenger service-bench marking program.

The ACI Survey captured passengers' experience at all airport passenger contact points in more than 300 airports worldwide. The ACI's ASQ has industry recognition as a world-class bench marking program that aims to allow airports plan improvements and benchmark their customer services against other airports.

In 2014 ACI did name JKIA as the fifth best airport in Africa, during the ASQ Awards held in 2015.
Kenya Airports Authority's Acting Managing Director, Yatich Kagungo noted that the recognition as timely; coming at a time that JKIA is undergoing major upgrading and modernisation works which will stamp its position as a regional hub.

"The stature of JKIA has grown significantly in recent years with increased passengers and cargo traffic into and out of the facility. We expect even further growth going forward as more capacity is unlocked by on-going works," said Kagungo.

These works, said Kagungo are expected to improve the level of service, security and controlled access to meet international standards, thus taking advantage of its strategic location of JKIA to position it as the premier aviation hub of Africa.

On-going works at JKIA include the construction of arrivals Terminal 1A (T1A) and Terminal E (T1E); expected to be opened in the course of this month.

JKIA currently has a new terminal (2) with a capacity to handle 2.5 million passengers annually catering for both international and domestic departures and arrivals.

This brings the capacity of JKIA to 7.5 million passengers annually. The airport is said to contribute close to 10 per cent of the country's Shs6 trillion Gross Domestic Product (GDP).