Bungoma County to Construct Ksh 2.5 billion A Rating Airport
Bungoma County plans to transform its defunct Matulo airstrip into a comfortable new class A rating Bungoma-Matulo International Airport with an investment close to Ksh 2.5 billion with an efficient passenger and cargo hub.
Shelter Solutions Ltd and International Partners & BIIP. the project owner says the project is estimated to take 25 years and once complete, it will “Connect America continents, Asia and Europe direct and meet the growing needs of the market and creates favorable conditions for the long-term development of with other international aviation partners like Boeing, Airbus, Aeroflot, PJSC, Volga-Dnepr GC.”
The main objective for the project include to: reduce wastage of time due to heavy traffic on Webuye-Eldoret road, link Bungoma County with the rest of the World where the large aircraft can land directly in
Bungoma, provide Supportive services for businesses in Bungoma in order to export direct to international markets and serve Eastern Uganda and Western Kenya in terms of human traffic and open up Northern
Kenya up to Turkana.
The project owners say the project will be funded 100 percent by Shelter Solution Ltd and International Funding partners and will be executed in two phases – Phase one Ksh USD 500 million and Phase two USD 1 billion.
Phase one which will involve the construction of one main runway once complete is set to “Handle from 35 to 60 flights per hour; 3 earmarked passenger terminals, each with capacities to handle 5,000 to 10,000 passengers per hour.”
The annual airport capacity is expected to increase to 20-30 million passengers by 2035.
Phase two will involve the construction of new terminals 2 and 3 with a floor area of at least 74,000sqm that will be able to handle 20-30 million visitors per year and cargo of at least over 1 million tons per year.
Kensetsu Kaihatsu Consulting Engineers Ltd (KKCEL), has already published a proposed Geotechnical Investigation, Engineering Analysis and Design Recommendations for the proposed airport.
“This report captures the basics of design of the proposed Matulo Airstrip and should not be mistaken as the representative final design. Detailed studies and designs need to be undertaken before planning and
eventual construction commences. The cost estimates only considers the civil works and doesn’t include runway lighting, instrumentation, and other aspects of the aerodrome.”
Bungoma County government and Kenya Airways Authority have Initiated the process of operationalizing Matulo airstrip in the outskirts of Webuye town according to The Star Newspaper.
According to Governor Wycliffe Wangamati “…we are hopeful that the technical assessment will give us a go-ahead to renovate it from either November, December or January 2019 so that we are able to offer cheap flight to our local residents.”
Western Province prides itself with the Kakamega Airstrip located within Shinyalu Constituency was reopened in 2004 after three years of upgrading. Fly 540 Aviation Company and East Africa Airline Services operated one daily flight then. However, the flights were suspended citing a poor runaway.
