Parliament delays upgrade of airport to top status President Uhuru Kenyatta will commission the new arrival terminals 1E and 1A on Monday.

SUNDAY JUNE 19 2016, By GERALD ANDAE

 

A Kenya Airways aircraft. To achieve a category 1 status, an airport has to meet some critical elements such as safety oversight, the civil aviation system, licensing and surveillance obligations. FILE PHOTO | JOSEPH KANYI | NATION MEDIA GROUP 

In Summary

• The Bill has now been printed and ready to be presented to Parliament for a debate ahead of the scheduled FAA audit next month at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).
• The government is moving with speed to comply with the requirements before the US inspectors come next month for a crucial audit on conformity.  

Kenya’s quest for direct flights to the USA, which had been scheduled to start last month, has once again delayed as Parliament failed to pass on time a crucial Bill that forms part of the conditions issued by the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA).

MPs were supposed to have passed the Civil Aviation Amendment Bill 2015 before last month, which is the only major item pending in Kenya’s bid to attaining category one status that will allow for direct flights between Nairobi and Washington.  

The Bill has now been printed and ready to be presented to Parliament for a debate ahead of the scheduled FAA audit next month of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).

It seeks to give full regulatory powers to the Director-General of the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA), Gilbert Kibe, while insulating him/her from political interference.

FAA officials were in the country last month to assess the progress of the safety systems and management at JKIA, and will be coming back next month to deal with the two pending issues.

“The airport is at the final stages of compliance, which is a positive move towards Kenya’s attainment of category one status to allow direct flights between Nairobi and Washington before the end of the year,” Mr Kibe told Sunday Nation.

The government is moving with speed to comply with the requirements before the US inspectors come next month for a crucial audit on conformity.  

President Uhuru Kenyatta will commission the new arrival terminals 1E and 1A on Monday.

CONDITIONS
The event will mark a major step in the ongoing expansion and modernisation of the region’s busiest airport where passenger arrivals are expected to climb to 864,959 this year from 823,770 last year.

Kenya has been implementing a tuft of recommendations by the US government to enhance security, among them separation of passenger arrival and departure terminals, clearing flight path and fencing off the airport.

The Bill will also increase the powers of the authority to include a role in airport security while granting it unhindered access to all aircraft within Kenyan borders and airspace, their documents and access to all airport sections.

After the audit, FAA will report to the International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) that will set a date for the final audit of the airport before Kenya is declared a category one country.

Under the IASA programme, the FAA determines whether another country’s oversight of its air carriers that operate, or seek to operate, into the US, or codeshare with a US air carrier, complies with safety standards of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

Among the requirements that JKIA had to meet was the construction of a new headquarters for the KCAA, that President Kenyatta will also commission tomorrow. 

To achieve a category 1 status, an airport has to meet some critical elements set by ICAO such as safety oversight, the civil aviation system, licensing and surveillance obligations.