State of Wilson Airport raises concern among operators

Runways at the Wilson Airport need urgent repairs.

This the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority says would improve operations at the airport that has in the recent days witnessed an accident and a minor incident involving Silverstone and Safarilink Air Services.

Established in the 1920’s and ranked as one of the busiest airports in the continent, the state of Wilson Airport is now on the spot.

With Tuesday night’s incident involving a small aircraft operated by safari link at the airport, Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) Director General Captain Gilbert Kibe says the state of Wilson’s runway needs attention.

“There are potholes in some of the runways which need to be fixed as soon as possible to ensure smooth operations at the airport,” Capt. Kibe.

Since last Friday, works have begun with part of the runway being closed to fill in the potholes.

“The runways will remain closed until the repairs are done and if we are satisfied with them then we can reopen it,” adds Kibe.

The state of affairs at the airport was confirmed by operators among them Silverstone Air that has been in the news recently following an accident at Wilson Airport that is still under investigations

The airline however maintains that the accident and subsequent incident its aircrafts were involved in were not acts of omission or negligence

“We maintain our aircrafts regularly and we make sure that they are all in good condition before flights,” said Victor Gatheru, the Head of Maintenance, Silverstone.

The airline is currently under audit by the Civil Aviation Authority to assess their level of compliance to safety procedures.