JKIA Ranked Among Top 10 Africa's Best Airports

The Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi has been ranked 10th among the best airports in Africa, despite the controversy it has generated over its operations, particularly in the rainy season.

The ranking was courtesy of Skytrax (originally known as Inflight Research Services), a United Kingdom-based consultancy headquartered in London that runs an airline and airport review website

Skytrax conducts research for commercial airlines, as well as taking surveys from international travellers, to rate cabin staff, airports, airlines, airline lounges, in-flight entertainment, on-board catering, and several other elements of air travel.

Apart from these evaluations, Skytrax has an airline forum where passengers give potential passengers insights and opinions about airlines.

The website also hosts flight reviews, flight checks, and satisfaction surveys. Skytrax holds an annual World Airline Awards and World Airport Awards, as well as ranking airlines and airports.

In the 2024 ranking, JKIA was placed 10th behind Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, previously called Haile Selassie International Airport, which was ranked at position 7.

Behind Addis Ababa was Kigali International Airport in Rwanda at position 8 and alongside JKIA, they are the only airports in East Africa to have made the top 10.

Cape Town International Airport, Africa’s 3rd largest airport was ranked as the best facility in the continent followed by King Shaka International Airport in Durban in second and O.R Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg in third, all in South Africa.

The fourth city with the best airport is Casablanca, which houses the Mohammed V International and Anfa Airport, while Mauritius at number five has the Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport as the main airport, and Gaetan Duval Airport serving domestic flights. 

Marrakech, the fourth largest city in Morocco, has the Marrakech Menara Aiport. It was ranked at number six.

Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg cities made it to the top 100 list worldwide, ranking at 54, 72 and 83 respectively. 

Globally, Doha's Hamad International Airport in Qatar took the top spot, beating Singapore's Changi Airport which was crowned the world’s best airport 12 times by Skytrax, including winning first place consecutively from 2013 to 2020, and again in 2023.

JKIA is the busiest airport in East Africa, boasting over forty passenger airlines and 25 cargo airlines. 

According to a report by Logistics Cluster, the airport recorded 98,975 aircraft movements in the Financial Year 2022/2023 which translated to approximately 7,323,373 passengers for that particular year.