A woman cleans the Kabunde Airstrip runway in readiness for a flight in 2016. file photo | nmg
Kabunde Airstrip in Homa Bay County is proving to be a goldmine in turning around the lakeside county’s economic fortunes.
Tourism,
hotel and taxi businesses are looking up since the airstrip located six
kilometres from Homa Bay Town received its first commercial flights in
January.
The airstrip is a convenience to thousands who
have for a long time been worrying about catching flights about 114
kilometres away in Kisumu.
The airstrip that is serving
the larger catchment area and supplements services of Suneka Airstrip
in the neighbouring Kisii County has also lifted local businesses.
Hoteliers and taxi operators who are key beneficiaries of the
facility are optimistic that it’s runway shall be extended to
accommodate bigger planes.
Mr Jack Awitty, the general
manager of Cold Springs Hotel, which is a newly opened four star class
hospitality facility in the town, says that the airstrip is a big boost
to hospitality industry in the western Kenya tourism circuit.
‘’Some
of our clients use the airstrip to reach our new facility and this has
boosted sales for many hotels in this region,’’ said Mr Awitty.
Top hotels in the county seeking to benefit from the refurbishment of the airstrip are Rusinga Island Lodge, Tourist Hotel and Blue Ridge Hotel located at the shores of Lake Victoria.
Top hotels in the county seeking to benefit from the refurbishment of the airstrip are Rusinga Island Lodge, Tourist Hotel and Blue Ridge Hotel located at the shores of Lake Victoria.
Most hoteliers
are tying their tides to the tourist attraction sites in the county like
Ruma National Park, Rusinga Island, Lake Simbi Nyaima and Ondago swamp.
Homa
Bay County Business Association chairperson Bob Onimo revealed that the
airstrip had boosted investment opportunities in the county.
He
pointed the entry of several banking and insurance services offering
companies into the town as an indicator of a growing investor confidence
of the prospects in the lakeside county.
‘’The
airstrip has increased investment opportunities in the town and this
explains the banking, hotelier and insurance businesses that are
establishing in Homa Bay Town,’’ said Mr Onimo.
During a
recent investments conference organised by the Homa Bay County
government to root for investors to invest in different sectors of the
devolved unit, transport and hospitality industries topped the list of
sectors where investors were needed.
Kabunde upgrade
that is a project of Kenya Airports Authority and the county government
was modernised at a cost of Sh200 million with its runaway extended to
1.2 kilometres.
The facilities at the newly refurbished
airstrip include an apron and a runaway 14/32, which in the year 2015
was extended from 790 metres to the present 1.2km to accommodate larger
aircraft.
Homa
Bay County Executive for Roads, Transport and Infrastructure Eliud
Otieno said that the county government has embarked on a continuous
upgrading of the airstrip’s runaway, targeting bigger aircraft.
‘’The
airstrip is a development that is meant to benefit the western Kenya
tourism as a number of tourists have started using it to jet into the
county,’’ said Mr Otieno.
Two airlines, Barracuda Airlines and 540 Airlines are currently using the airstrip.
The
airstrip has also witnessed an influx of tour operator companies in
Homa Bay Town who seeks to tap onto tourists seeking to visit the
tourist attraction sites in the region.
Kabunde serves
as a benchmark for a number of counties in Western Kenya which are
pushing to have their airstrips upgraded so as to turn fortunes around.
There
are about 20 civil airstrips in Western Kenya alone, most of which are
idle, while the upgrade of others are on the pipeline.
Kakamega
airstrip and Suneka in Kisii recently received Sh200 million and Sh500
million respectively from the national government for refurbishment as
Nakuru governor Lee Kinyanjui announced that they will build Nakuru
airport in conjunction with the national government.
In
Kericho, a total of Sh1 billion will be required to upgrade Kerenga
airstrip although Governor Paul Chepkwony is facing opposition from a
section of leaders and residents over the project which would be done in
partnership with the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) and the
Kenya Air Force who will provide strategic support.
In September 2017, Kenya Airports Authority toured Itembe airstrip in Bomet County which is also earmarked for uplift.
Narok
alone has three purposely to aid tourist movement, including Masai Mara
(Keekorok Airport) and Masai Mara (Mara Serena Airport) and Narok
airport.
Then there is Naivasha, Nanyuki, Bungoma,
Busia, Kakamega, Kimwarer, Kisii, Kitale, Lake Baringo, Liboi,
Loiyangalani and Lokichogio.
According to data
released by Oxford Economics last year, the air transport sector in
Kenya contributes $3.2bn or 5.1 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic
Product (GDP).
The findings of the report dubbed The
Importance of Air Transport to Kenya’, also estimates that a 10 percent
improvement of air transport connectivity will lead to a Sh1.5 billion
per annum increase in the long run GDP for the country’s economy.
The sector supports a nearly 50,000 jobs in Kenya directly and indirectly and pays Sh3.2 billion in taxes.
The
Oxford Economics report recommends that air transport connectivity
would increase competition hence lower the travel costs, increase
flexibility of labour supply and speed up adoption of new businesses.
Experts, however, have asked for proper assessment of the need for airports.
Western Kenya already has two international airports of Kisumu and Eldoret which operate below capacity.
Mr
Kwame Owino, the Chief Executive Officer of the Institute of Economic
Affairs warned that counties and national government should exercise
caution and ensure the demand for air transport (passengers and cargo)
exists before billions are spent in vain.
“They have to
look at our history. For Eldoret airport for instance, it was projected
that within 10 years of construction, it would process half of the
transactions done at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, but that is
yet to be achieved,” said Mr Owino.
Mr Benson Kiriga,
the head of macro-economic division at Kenya Institute of Public Policy
and Research said whereas counties were allowed to construct airstrip,
there was need to assess the need to avoid concentration of such
facilities in one area.
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