Departure
96%
vs 95% ▲ 1
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (HKJK/NBO) is Kenya's principal international gateway, serving Nairobi from the Embakasi suburb some 18 kilometres southeast of the city centre. It is Kenya Airways' main hub and the busiest of the country's four international airports, offering a single long instrument runway at high elevation that demands careful performance planning for simulator pilots.
Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, commonly abbreviated JKIA, is Nairobi's principal international airport and Kenya's main passenger and air-cargo gateway. It is operated by the Kenya Airports Authority and serves as the hub for Kenya Airways, Jambojet and African Express Airways, with scheduled services to destinations in more than fifty countries. For a simulator pilot it is notable both for its high field elevation, which affects aircraft performance, and for its role as the primary point of entry into East African airspace.
The airport lies in the Embakasi suburb of Nairobi, approximately 18 kilometres southeast of the city centre. It is distinct from Wilson Airport (WIL), Nairobi's separate domestic, charter and light-aircraft field used for safari and regional flights; the two airports have no airside connection.
Jomo Kenyatta International Airport has a single physical runway, 06/24, with a hard, lit surface approximately 13,505 feet in length. An instrument landing system serves runway 06.
Nairobi Tower provides tower service on 118.7 MHz. Approach control operates on 122.3 MHz, with ATIS broadcast on 126.2 MHz, ramp control on 121.6 MHz, and a separate apron control frequency. The field is equipped with an ILS.
The airport opened as Embakasi Airport on 9 March 1958, inaugurated by Sir Evelyn Baring, the last colonial governor of Kenya, at a time when British authorities and BOAC judged the existing Eastleigh airport inadequate for post-war airliners. Much of the original construction relied on forced labour, including suspected members of the Kenya Land and Freedom Army, working under conditions harsh enough to cause deaths and reports of self-harm among the workforce. The airport's design was influenced by Zurich's Kloten Airport. In 1972 the World Bank funded a major expansion, adding a new passenger terminal, the airport's first dedicated cargo terminal, taxiways, aprons and associated infrastructure; the current terminal building, on the opposite side of the runway from the original, was completed and opened by President Jomo Kenyatta on 14 March 1978, and the airport was renamed in his honour that year. In October 1994 a British Airways Concorde landed at the airport to test its high-altitude performance. A Fokker 50 landing-gear failure on 4 January 2015 caused a temporary closure, with flights diverted to Moi International Airport in Mombasa.
Jomo Kenyatta International Airport remains Kenya's busiest airport, handling over nine million passengers and more than 364,000 tonnes of cargo in 2024, making it the sixth-busiest airport in Africa by passenger traffic. It serves as the principal hub for Kenya Airways, with Jambojet and African Express Airways also based there. In February 2017 the airport was awarded Category One status by US aviation authorities. A planned Greenfield Terminal expansion, intended to raise capacity toward 18.5 million passengers annually, was terminated in March 2016 after the contractor failed to secure funding.
