Malindi Airport

It is located west of the central business district of the town of Malindi, in Kilifi County, in southeastern Kenya, at the Indian Ocean coast.^[2] This is about 132 kilometres (82 mi), by road and about 104.5 kilometres (65 mi), by air, northeast of Moi International Airport, the nearest international airport.^[3] It is approximately 485 kilometres (301 mi), by road and approximately 411 kilometres (255 mi), by air, southeast of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, the largest airport in Kenya.^[4] The coordinates of Malindi Airport are 03°12'54.0"S, 40°06'00.0"E (Latitude:-3.2150; Longitude:40.1000).^[2]

The airport is a medium-sized airport that serves the town of Malindi and is situated at an average elevation of 80 feet (24 m) above sea level.^[5] The airport has two bitumen runways: Runway 17/35 measures 4,600 feet (1,400 m) long and is 98 feet (30 m) wide,^[5] and Runway 08/26 measures 3,549 feet (1,082 m) and is 76 feet (23 m) wide.^[6] The Kenyan government funded the updating and expansion of the Malindi Airport terminal building, construction of a new control tower and rehabilitation of the runways. The upgrades were carried out by Dickways Construction between 2011 and 2012, and cost KES:200 million (approx. USD2 million).^[7] The airport has immigration and customs facilities and is open for international operations daily from 06:00 to 18:30 local time. Expansion plans are underway to upgrade its infrastructure and support larger aircraft and more frequent international traffic.^[8]

The Kenyan government seeks to expand Malindi Airport in order to attract direct international flights. Plans are underway to extend Runway 17/35 to a length of 2,500 metres (8,202 ft).^[9] In 2016, work began to enlarge the apron to accommodate more aircraft, build a 7.5 kilometres (5 mi) perimeter fence and construct a parking facility that accommodates 500 vehicles. That phase is expected to conclude in December 2016.^[9] The work has been delayed by individuals and groups demanding compensation for land required for the expansion.^[10] In January 2018, the National Land Commission of Kenya, earmarked KSh424 million (approximately US$4.24 million) to compensate 175 landowners for 25 hectares (62 acres) of land and pave the way for airport expansion.^[1]