Moi International Airport is an

international airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries around the world. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports and they must feature longer ...

in Mombasa, the second-largest city in Kenya. In 2020 the airport was heralded as the "Best Airport in Africa" (with under 2 million passengers annually) by Airports Council International.

Overview

Moi International Airport serves the city of Mombasa and surrounding communities. It lies approximately , by air, southeast of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, the largest and busiest airport in the country. Mombasa Airport is operated by Kenya Airports Authority. It was named after former Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi during his tenure. At above sea level, the airport has two runways: Runway 1 measures in length and Runway 2 measures in length. Runway 1 is also known as Runway 03/21, while Runway 2 is also known as Runway 15/33. Runway 1 is equipped with an ILS (Instrument Landing System). There are two terminals at the airport. Terminal 1 is primarily used for international flights, while Terminal 2 is used for domestic flights. Some airlines such as Kenya Airways use Terminal 1 for both domestic and international. In September 2018, it was confirmed that Qatar Airways would be introducing four weekly flights to Mombasa operating with the A320. The first flight commenced on 11 December 2018, with a flight time from Doha of just over 6 hours.

History

The airport was built during the Second World War by the Engineer Corps of the

South African Army The South African Army is the principal land warfare force of South Africa, a part of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), along with the South African Air Force, South African Navy and South African Military Health Service. ...

. During the war, it was used by the Fleet Air Arm as a land base of the British Eastern Fleet which was based at nearby Kilindini Harbour from 1942, by the Royal Air Force (

AHQ East Africa Air Headquarters East Africa (or AHQ East Africa) was a command of the British Royal Air Force (RAF) formed on 19 October 1940 by expanding AHQ RAF Nairobi. On 15 December 1941, the command was reduced to Group status as No. 207 (General Purpos ...

and

No. 246 Wing RAF The numero sign or numero symbol, №, (also represented as Nº, No, No. or no.), is a typographic abbreviation of the word ''number''(''s'') indicating ordinal numeration, especially in names and titles. For example, using the numero sign, t ...

) which operated

anti-submarine An anti-submarine weapon (ASW) is any one of a number of devices that are intended to act against a submarine and its crew, to destroy (sink) the vessel or reduce its capability as a weapon of war. In its simplest sense, an anti-submarine weapo ...

Catalina Catalina may refer to: Arts and media * ''The Catalina'', a 2012 American reality television show * ''Catalina'' (novel), a 1948 novel by W. Somerset Maugham * Catalina (''My Name Is Earl''), character from the NBC sitcom ''My Name Is Earl'' ...

flying boat A flying boat is a type of fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in that a flying boat's fuselage is purpose-designed for floatation and contains a hull, while floatplanes rely on fusela ...

s off the East Africa coast and by the South African Air Force which was engaged in the war against Italy in Abyssinia. It was originally known as ''Port Reitz Airport''. Mombasa Airport was expanded to an

in 1979. Aircraft Maintenance facilities for private and light- to medium-size commercial aircraft are provided from government and private hangars by Benair Aircraft Engineering, licensed by the

Kenya Civil Aviation Authority Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) is a state corporation of Kenya that is responsible for regulating the aviation, aviation industry in Kenya and for providing air navigation, air navigation services in the Kenya flight region. The KCAA offers ...

(KCAA) as an approved maintenance organisation (AMO). Benair Engineering constructed its first private aircraft maintenance hangar in 1997 as a temporary structure and it is still standing today. The hangar is located adjacent to the government hangar built to maintain Catalina aircraft during WW2 as part of the British East Africa war effort. Benair has been the principal aircraft maintenance facility since its inception at the Kenya coast and the name is based on the Chief engineer Geoffrey Benaglia. Principal customers include Dorenair, Dodsons International, Bluesky Aviation, Precision Air (Tanzania) and Mombasa Air Safari. Starting on 18 August 1992, Moi International Airport was used as the headquarters for the US Central Command's regional command and control headquarters for Operation Provide Relief until 4 December of that same year when it was subordinated and merged with Operation Restore Hope. The initial deployment of personnel from US Central Command included tactical communications specialists from the Joint Communications Support Element (JCSE). From July to September 1994, Moi International Airport was used almost continuously as a refueling station during the Operation Support Hope humanitarian mission into Rwanda. Empty C-141 and C-5 freighter jets returning to Europe flew to Mombasa due to the scarcity of fuel in the African interior. The airlift through Mombasa ceased by October due to runway expansion work.

Airlines and destinations

;Note : Condor' Frankfurt to Mombasa flights make a stop in Zanzibar. However, the airline does not have traffic rights to transport passengers solely between Zanzibar and Mombasa.

Statistics

References

External links

Location of Moi International Airport At Google MapsKenya Airports Authority – Moi International Airport
* – Mombasa Airport {{authority control Airports in Kenya Buildings and structures in Mombasa Coast Province Mombasa County