Kenya has relaunched the tender process for the overhaul of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), dusting off ambitions that were paused after the politically bruising collapse of the Adani Group proposal.
In a fresh public notice, the State Department for Aviation and Aerospace Development has invited sealed bids under a design and build framework. That arrangement places both architectural design and construction under a single contractor or consortium, concentrating responsibility in one pair of hands and, in theory, cutting down delays.
JKIA is already operating beyond the limits it was originally built for. The airport currently handles about 8.8 million passengers a year, with projections suggesting traffic could exceed 22 million annually by 2045. Yet the latest notice is light on specifics, offering no figures on projected costs, funding models or detailed scope.
Even so, upgrading JKIA remains central to Kenya’s broader ambition to entrench Nairobi as a regional logistics and transport nerve centre. The airport underpins tourism, horticultural exports and transit flows across East and Central Africa.
Past blueprints for modernisation have included new passenger terminals capable of absorbing millions more travellers, a second runway to ease aircraft congestion and minimise delays, and expanded taxiways to improve efficiency. On the landside, plans envisage revamped access roads, parking facilities and cargo infrastructure. Inside the terminals, updated baggage handling systems, check in areas and air traffic control technology are expected to sharpen both passenger experience and operational safety.
Officials are also eyeing a more expansive vision. The airport could anchor an “airport city” and special economic zone, complete with hotels, business parks and logistics centres, designed to strengthen Nairobi’s competitive standing in aviation. Under current projections, a new terminal would add capacity for 10 million additional passengers, lifting medium term handling capability to roughly 15 million annually.
The previous attempt to modernise JKIA, fronted by India’s Adani Group, sparked public backlash. Structured as a public private partnership, it would have granted the conglomerate operational control of the country’s main airport for three decades. The proposal unravelled amid mounting opposition and further strain after the group’s chairman, Gautam Adani, faced bribery related charges in the United States.
All this unfolds against a regional aviation arms race. In January, Ethiopia commenced construction of a vast new international airport at Bishoftu, south of Addis Ababa. Built in phases, the facility is designed to handle up to 110 million passengers annually once fully complete.
Kenya’s difficulty is financial muscle. Public debt has risen steadily, leaving limited fiscal room for large scale infrastructure projects. Alternative financing tools such as public private partnerships have repeatedly run into political friction and legal hurdles.
The Treasury is now working on a proposed KSh 5 trillion National Infrastructure Fund aimed at channelling capital into highways, rail, and airports. The scheme is still in its infancy, and its practical viability remains to be seen.
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By contrast, Ethiopia’s Bishoftu development is being spearheaded by state owned Ethiopian Airlines, supported by a mix of internal funding and development finance from institutions such as the African Development Bank and the US International Development Finance Corporation. The project is designed to ease congestion at Bole International Airport and further entrench Ethiopian Airlines’ commanding position in African aviation. The carrier already boasts the continent’s largest seat capacity and operates an extensive hub network linking Africa with Europe, Asia and the Americas.
Ethiopian Airlines’ state backed growth has long cast a shadow over Kenya Airways, which struggled under the weight of an aggressive fleet expansion in the 2010s.
Kenya is simultaneously pursuing plans for a second major international airport near Konza Technopolis. Expected to break ground in 2026 at an estimated cost of KSh 264 billion, the proposed facility would feature new terminals, extra runways and expanded apron space. However, concentrating resources on a new gateway along the same corridor could complicate funding for JKIA’s upgrade.
A revitalised JKIA would give Kenya Airways and its partners the infrastructure needed to tighten turnaround times, increase route density and capture more transit passengers. Without a comparable upgrade push, Nairobi risks watching Addis Ababa pull even further ahead as the region’s dominant intercontinental hub.
