Nanyuki Airfield is an

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...

Nanyuki Nanyuki is a Market town in Laikipia County of Kenya lying northwest of Mount Kenya along the A2 road and at the terminus of the branch railway from Nairobi. The name is derived from Enyaanyukie Maasai word for resemblance. It is situated just ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

Location

Nanyuki Airfield, , is in

Laikipia County Laikipia County is one of the 47 Counties of Kenya, located on the Equator in the former Rift Valley Province of the Country. Laikipia is a cosmopolitan County and is Listed as County number 31. The county has two major urban centres: Nanyuki t ...

, in the Kenyan East Rift Valley. Located on the western foothills of

Mount Kenya Mount Kenya (Kikuyu: ''Kĩrĩnyaga'', Kamba, ''Ki Nyaa'') is the highest mountain in Kenya and the second-highest in Africa, after Kilimanjaro. The highest peaks of the mountain are Batian (), Nelion () and Point Lenana (). Mount Kenya is locat ...

, it lies only , south of the

Equator The equator is a circle of latitude, about in circumference, that divides Earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, halfway between the North and South poles. The term can als ...

. It is approximately , by air, north of

Jomo Kenyatta International Airport Jomo Kenyatta International Airport , is an international airport in Nairobi, the capital of and largest city in Kenya. The other three important international airports in Kenya include the Kisumu International Airport, Moi International Airp ...

, the country's largest civilian airport.

Overview

At above sea level, the airport has a single

asphalt Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt concrete, as ...

which measures in length. Nanyuki Airfield is a government-owned, privately leased airfield, serving private and commercial air operators. The airfield handles mostly small, light, single-engine aircraft and some twin engined aircraft. Most traffic through Nanyuki is routed from Nairobi, carrying tourists to

Mara Serena Airport Mara Serena Airport is an airstrip in Masai Mara, Kenya. Location Mara Serena Airport is located in Masai Mara, in Narok County, in southwestern Kenya, close to the border with Tanzania. Mara Serena Airport lies approximately southwest of Na ...

Samburu Airport Samburu Airport is an airport in Samburu County, Kenya. Location Samburu Airport is located in Samburu National Reserve, Samburu County, Rift Valley Province, near the geographical center of the Republic of Kenya. Its location is approximately ...

Laikipia Laikipia County is one of the 47 Counties of Kenya, located on the Equator in the former Rift Valley Province of the Country. Laikipia is a cosmopolitan County and is Listed as County number 31. The county has two major urban centres: Nanyuki t ...

, Lewa and

Meru Meru may refer to: Geography Kenya * Meru, Kenya, a city in Meru County, Kenya ** Meru County, created by the merger of *** Meru Central District *** Meru North District *** Meru South District * Meru National Park, a Kenyan wildlife park Tanza ...

. The airfield is leased by Tropic Air Kenya, offering air charter and helicopter services.

Airlines and destinations

Services

Nanyuki Airfield is open from 6 am to 6 pm daily, with all traffic reporting to the Nanyuki air traffic controller. Aircraft fuel is usually available. Barney's Restaurant is open from 8 am to 5 pm daily, serving hot and cold drinks, breakfast, lunch and snacks. The gift shop is also open daily, selling African arts, crafts and gifts.

History and development

In the late 1960s, the Nanyuki Airfield was originally along the Nanyuki – Rumuruti Road. This was a grass airfield, mainly used by small, single-engine, privately owned aircraft. During the 1970s the site was purchased by the Kenya government for military and official business and named the

Laikipia Air Base Laikipia Air Base is a Kenya Air Force base located approximately west-northwest of Nanyuki, Kenya. Laikipia AB was established in 1974 as Nanyuki Air Base and later renamed for the county in which it is located. History On 25 February 1974, ...

. The new civil airfield for Nanyuki was allocated along the Nanyuki – Naro Moru road about , out of Nanyuki town, and was named Nanyuki Civil Airfield. At the time, it was almost entirely used by privately owned small, light, single-engine aircraft. The site comprised a tarmac runway and a caretaker's hut. In the early 1990s, the airfield became home to Tropic Air Kenya – a small air charter company operating single-engine Cessna aircraft and helicopters. It is also a key airport for

Air Kenya The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for ...

East African Safari Air East African Safari Air was an airline based in Kenya. Its international operations were suspended in September 2004, by the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority, but the airline still maintained scheduled regional and domestic services through its s ...

, and

Fly540 Five Forty Aviation Ltd, trading as Fly540, is a low-cost airline which commenced operations in 2006 and is based in Nairobi, Kenya, operating both passenger and cargo services. The airline had two subsidiary airlines, Fly540 Ghana (suspended in ...

who operate daily scheduled services linking with Nairobi, Lewa, Laikipia, Samburu, Meru and the Maasai Mara. Offices and facilities have been built. To accommodate the many thousands of passengers that pass through the airfield each year, Tropic Air Kenya established a waiting area, with a restaurant, shop and toilet facilities.

References

External links

Location of Nanyuki Airport at Google Maps

Website of Kenya Airports Authority

Airkenya Routes
{{authority control Airports in Kenya Airports in Rift Valley Province Laikipia County