Over next few years, Kilimanjaro Airport (KIA) will be upgraded and expanded, with finance from The Netherlands.
The airside of the airport - runway, taxiways and aprons - will be overhauled and resurfaced. A new taxiway will be built to increase the capacity of the airport, and the terminal building will be upgraded and expanded to accommodate greater numbers of tourists into Northern Tanzania. The project is expected to cost in total around Tsh57.5bn (EUR25mn/US$32mn).
The Governments of the United Republic of Tanzania and of the Kingdom of The Netherlands signed a grant agreement for the Rehabilitation of Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA) in November 2011. The grant, part of the Dutch ORIO programme, covers the first part of the rehabilitation project, the Development Phase - during which the Netherlands Airport Consultants (NACO), under supervision by the Kilimanjaro Airports Development Company (KADCO), prepare the designs for the renovation and expansion of the airport. The design phase is estimated to cost around Tsh920mn (EUR400,000/US$512,000) and will be 100 per cent financed by ORIO.The design phase, beginning in January 2012, is expected to take 6-8 months. Once the Development Phase is completed and the design is approved, the Dutch Government will provide a second grant to cover 50 per cent of the cost of the actual rehabilitation. The other 50 per cent is to be financed by KADCO through the airport’s revenues. Tendering and actual works are foreseen to take place in 2013/2014.
The initiative for the rehabilitation was taken by KADCO, as operator of Kilimanjaro International Airport. KADCO has been fully owned by the Tanzanian government since 2010. KADCO’s CEO, Marco van de Kreeke, says of the ORIO grant, “This is a big step for KADCO and Kilimanjaro Airport. The rehabilitation of KIA has been an important goal since the airport’s privatisation. In the last decade, traffic numbers at KIA have grown from 200,000 in 2002 to an expected 650,000 passengers in 2011. KADCO management is negotiating with a number of international flag carriers to open new routes to KIA. The airport management is very confident this development strategy will continue to bear fruit and further stimulate growth. The airport needs to keep up with growth and international standards. With this grant from the Dutch Government, KIA will get the necessary expansion and facelift to accommodate international traffic in the next decade.”
