Infrastructure

State Seeks Sh5 Billion for Isiolo Airport Upgrade

The facility is expected to open up the Northern Kenya tourism belt.

Updated on

April 24, 2025

More than a decade after its launch, Isiolo International Airport remains unfinished, with the government now requiring an additional Sh4.8 billion to complete the project.

Recently, while appearing before the Senate, Transport Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir said the airport, launched in 2011, is not yet equipped to support cargo or passenger flights.

“The airport is crucial for unlocking the northern corridor, connecting Kenya to South Sudan, Ethiopia, and Northern Uganda,” Mr Chirchir said.

The project has already consumed Sh2.97 billion.

Although the airport currently allows for non-scheduled flights like helicopters, the CS noted that flooding had damaged parts of the runway, making it unsafe for many types of aircraft.

According to Mr Chirchir, the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) is awaiting funding from the Treasury to resolve the issue, with the proposed runway pavement reconstruction.

The CS noted that Sh1.5 billion is needed to rehabilitate the 1.4-kilometre runway, with another Sh1.5 billion required to extend it to 3.5 kilometres.

Other allocations include Sh500 million for land acquisition to build VIP facilities, parking areas, hangars, and roads, and Sh300 million for drainage upgrades.

Isiolo International Airport, covering 800 acres across Isiolo and Meru counties, was opened by President Uhuru Kenyatta in July 2017, marking the start of flight operations.

However, the airport — designed to handle more than 125,000 passengers annually — remains underutilised and falls short of meeting its intended capacity.

While commissioning the facility, President Kenyatta stated that it would open up Northern Kenya’s tourism belt and increase the number of tourists in the region.

“This airport is a catalyst for economic development that will come with the expansion of tourism and creation of quality job opportunities,” he stated.

At the time, two local airlines, Fly SAX and Fly 540, had opened offices at Isiolo International Airport — northern Kenya’s first international airport — ready to begin operations.

This did not happen, as the facility soon fell into disrepair.

Prior to its commissioning, the airport had been under renovation since February 2013, following the completion in July 2012 of the construction of a 1.4 km runway, an apron, two taxiways, a patrol road, fencing, and runway safety works for Sh700 million.

Nine large planes

The upgrade was undertaken by Northern Construction – a local contractor – and involved the extension of the runway to 2.5 km from the current 1.4 km and the extension of the apron to accommodate nine large planes instead of three.

Extending the runway meant a heavy commercial aircraft such as a Boeing 737 would be able to land at the airport since the facility can handle maximum take-off weight.

The Isiolo International Airport is a key part of the Lapsset Corridor project, an economic and transport passageway that stretches from the Lamu Port to South Sudan and Ethiopia.