Siginon Aviation, a freight logistics company, is opening a new air cargo terminal adjacent to the apron at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi.
The construction of the US$10 million facility was in response to customer demands for a safe, secure air cargo terminal on the airside of JKIA.
This facility has the longest access to the airside as well as offers proximity to the passenger terminal. This therefore provides ease in handling cargo loaded in a freighter or passenger aircraft.
“The design and structure of this terminal has been guided by global standards of optimal cargo handling underlined with a focus on safety, security and efficiency as the key principles,” Moses Wahome, Siginon Aviation project manager, said. “The move to the JKIA airside is a commitment by Siginon Aviation to offer our customers better service in a world-class facility.”
Some of the features of the new 5,000-square-meter (53,819-square-feet) air cargo terminal include a general cargo warehouse with an annual throughput of 60,000 tonnes; specialized storage areas for dangerous goods, temperature sensitive and oversized cargo; 2,000 square meters (21,527 square feet) of basement parking for transit vehicles; and office space for customer service, customs authorities and airline offices.
All Siginon operations staff members are trained in dangerous goods handling.
The terminal includes a perishables center with 2,000 square meters (21,527 square feet) of cold room floor space. The perishables center seeks to meet the growing need for cool chain facilities to handle Kenyan flowers.
“Our move to the airside of JKIA is a testament that we have heard our customers’ needs and aligned our products and services to deliver accordingly to these demands,” Wahome said.
This new terminal is Siginon’s second facility in addition to a similar terminal at Eldoret International Airport in Kenya.