Isiolo International airport ready for business

The Isiolo international Airport, which is one of the key vision 2030 flagship projects in Isiolo County, has been declared ready for official opening following a week of intense assessment by the event organizing team.

Led by Isiolo County Commissioner George Natembeya, the team that comprised officers from the Kenya Airports Authority and the county security team expressed their satisfaction with the manner in which the facility’s contractor has addressed the issues that had delayed the airport’s official opening.

Speaking at the airport after conducting a tour of the facility, Natembeya said that all the areas that were deemed unsatisfactory during previous assessments have now been addressed such as a reliable supply of water, provision of electricity, and installation of CCTV cameras.

He said that the only pending issue is that the Airport is on an elephant corridor hence the need to also provide an electric fence to keep the jumbos away once the facility becomes operational.

He added that one school, KK Nkengechia Primary School, whose compound is within the airport will be relocated, with Kenya Airports Authority setting aside Ksh80 million for the exercise.

The airport manager, Mr Mohamed Lippi, said that several airlines have already declared interest in doing business at the Isiolo Airport, with Fly 540, Air Kenya and FlySax all bidding to become the first airline to fly into the Isiolo International Airport.

Mr Lippi said that employment of personnel to work at the facility will be done in accordance to the legal guidelines with the authority set to advertise for positions nationally once all the logistics are catered for in the budget.

Isiolo leaders have been vocal in demanding that at least 70 per cent of job opportunities at the airport be reserved for the locals, a demand that the residents keenly await, with the hope that local qualified people benefit from the airport jobs.

Mr Natembeya said that the ball is now in the hands of State house operatives to fix an appropriate date in the president’s tight schedule for the official opening of the facility, which has cost the tax payer a whooping Ksh2.3 billion.

The Airport sits on a 260-hectare parcel of land and with a runway which is 1.4 kilometers long with the authority aiming at stretching it further to at least 3 Kilometers to enable bigger aircrafts to land and take off with ease.