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National airline Kenya Airways (KQ) has revealed plans to invest in private jets and VIP terminals at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).
The airline has revealed the plans in a proposal submitted to a parliamentary committee in February, seeking approval to take over the operations and management of the Nairobi airport.
KQ says investing in private jets and VIP terminals is part of its plan to satisfy the market needs and enlarge the functionalities of JKIA.
If its bid to take over JKIA operations from the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) is successful, KQ plans to splash up to Sh2.5 billion to address technical defects and improve the airport.
"This will lead to an increase in passengers satisfaction while transiting in order to enhance the revenues and overall passenger experience. We estimate that a minimum budget of between Sh2 billion and Sh2.5 billion is needed to rehabilitate the infrastructure such as mechanical, electrical, and civil engineering systems," the airline says in a confidential report presented to the committee.
On Tuesday, KQ top executives are set to meet the Parliament’s Transport, Public Works and Housing committee for the second time, to sell the proposal.
Kenya Airways is further seeking to carry out short-term refurbishments on JKIA's infrastructure including increasing security scanners and check-in counters.
"In order to handle the increased aircraft movements, aircraft parking capacity, which will eventually become a bottleneck, would be improved alongside with operational improvement actions such as scheduling optimization/regulation (slot coordination or schedule coordination)," KQ says.
The airline also plans to fully digitize operations at the country's largest aerodrome.
"To make that happen, KQ would optimize usage of aligned IT and airport technology systems. KQ would replace manual processes with automated ones (baggage handling systems in Terminals 1B, 1C, 1D and 1E). The airline would also introduce a system that would allow monitoring of the concessionaire’s sales in all terminals," it says in the document.