Wajir 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 ...

Wajir County Wajir County is a counties of Kenya, county in the former North Eastern Province (Kenya), North Eastern Province of Kenya. Its capital and largest town is Wajir. The county has a population of 720,000 and an area of . The county is bordered to t ...

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

Location

Wajir Airport is located in

Wajir Wajir ( so, Wajeer) is the capital of the Wajir County of Kenya. It is situated in the former North Eastern Province. History A cluster of cairns near Wajir are generally ascribed by the local inhabitants to the Maadiinle, a semi-legendary pe ...

town. Traditionally inhabited by ethnic Borana and later

Somalis The Somalis ( so, Soomaalida 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒆𐒖, ar, صوماليون) are an ethnic group native to the Horn of Africa who share a common ancestry, culture and history. The Lowland East Cushitic Somali language is the shared ...

, the area lies near the

Jubbada Hoose Lower Juba ( so, Jubbada Hoose, Maay: ''Jubithy Hoosy'', ar, جوبا السفلى, it, Basso Giuba) is an administrative region ('' gobol'') in southern Somalia. With its capital at Kismayo, it lies in the autonomous Jubaland region. It has gr ...

region of southern

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

. By air, Wajir Airport is situated approximately northeast 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 ...

, Kenya's largest civilian airport. Situated 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 ...

measuring in length. The geographical coordinates of this airport are: 1° 43' 48.00"N, 40° 5' 24.00"E (latitude:1.73000; longitude:40.09000).

History

The Wajir Airport was built by an Israeli construction Company HZ between 1977 and 1978, as a military airbase for the Kenya Air Force. In November 2006, the Kenyan government decided to suspend direct scheduled flights to and from Somalia owing to security concerns vis-a-vis the then existing

Islamic Courts Union The Islamic Courts Union ( so, Midowga Maxkamadaha Islaamiga) was a legal and political organization formed to address the lawlessness that had been gripping Somalia since the fall of the Siad Barre regime in 1991 during the Somali Civil War. Th ...

. Following pressure by politically influential Somali traders to resume the cargo flights, the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) lifted its suspension a few months later in August 2007. It also indicated that all flights should thereafter stop at the Wajir Airport for customs, immigration and security screening before continuing onto their final destination. The Kenyan authorities subsequently outsourced the construction of a new terminal in the airport and assigned KCAA, customs, immigration and security officials to operate in the facility. On 7 September 2007 the Wajir Airport was commissioned to officially accommodate both passenger and military flights. In 2012, US Navy

Seabees United States Naval Construction Battalions, better known as the Navy Seabees, form the U.S. Naval Construction Force (NCF). The Seabee nickname is a heterograph of the initial letters "CB" from the words "Construction Battalion". Depending upon ...

built a new tarmac runway that can take heavy aircraft.

Facilities and staff

The airport has about 100 workers, mainly consisting of police officers. There are two military camps situated within the airport's limits. An army camp is located on the western side of the terminal building, with an air force compound approximately , south of the perimeter fence. Security personnel guard the airport's only entrance to assure security.

Airlines and destinations

Wajir Airport handles about seven flights per day. As of September 2012, civil flights are offered twice a week by Echo. Most flights, however, are cargo. Some charter and military flights are additionally accommodated. As of August 2021, flights from

have had to make a stop-over at Wajir Airport.

References

External links