The last two days have been a whirlwind for Nairobi’s top luxury hotels as 30 visiting presidents attending the two-day Africa-France Summit scrambled for the city’s limited presidential suites.
Many of Nairobi’s luxury hotels were forced to improvise, upgrading their best rooms to executive suites, determined not to miss out on the flood of the VVIP and VIP guests arriving for the summit.
However, the frenzy was not confined to hotels alone.
At the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), activity almost doubled as private jets ferrying the heads of state, diplomats, and high-ranking delegates streamed into the country, with the surge translating into increased revenue from landing and parking fees for the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) collected over the two days.
Ahead of the summit, a source at KAA told BDLife that they had anticipated congestion well in advance and made contingency plans for presidential aircraft that could not find space at JKIA to park at Kisumu International Airport and Moi International Airport in Mombasa.
However, there was overcrowding of jets as some presidents opted to fly commercial, with many others chartering smaller private jets.
‘Some aircraft would have been sent to Mombasa or Kisumu; those were the options we had prepared. But so far, we’ve been able to facilitate and accommodate all presidents and heads of delegation who have arrived,’ a KAA official told BDLife.
According to the official, contrary to many perceptions owing to security reasons, it is normal for many presidents to fly commercial, quietly blending in with normal passengers aboard commercial airlines such as British Airways and Turkish Airlines.
‘It usually happens more than people think. Some heads of state come with regular passengers on commercial flights. In fact, one of the heads of state from Africa arrived aboard a regional carrier, a Western African airline, because the country doesn’t have a big plane.’
The KAA official further noted that the situation would have been different with the congestion becoming a reality had all presidents and heads of state, as earlier anticipated, chosen to fly like some who arrived with considerably more fanfare.
Notably, Nigerian president Bola Tinubu, who arrived last Saturday and had been spending some quality time in Maasai Mara ahead of the summit, arrived with his entourage aboard a Boeing 737, parked in JKIA hangar.
‘The big ones we’ve seen so far are from Nigeria and France. Those two flew in 737s, which occupy bigger spaces,’ the official revealed.
Even with the surge in traffic, the KAA says it did not hike its fees to cash in on the summit.
‘There are always landing and parking fees, but the rates are standard. We do not operate in a way where, because we are busy, we suddenly increase prices,’ the official explained.
According to the official, airport charges go through government and regulatory approvals, meaning KAA cannot arbitrarily raise prices during peak periods.
‘Yes, of course, we have made money from the increased parking and traffic, but not because we charged higher rates,’ added the official.
Aircraft landing charges are based on the maximum takeoff weight of the aircraft, with the big planes such as Boeing 737 paying $2,300 (Sh295,000) for landing and $150 (Sh18,000) for parking per day.
Of the country’s major airports, JKIA is always the busiest, having generated a total revenue of Sh19 billion in the financial year 2024-2025, according to documents tabled by Transport Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir in Parliament during the Indian firm Adani Group deal hearing.
The revenue was generated from various streams, which include both aeronautical and non-aeronautical.
Landing, parking and air passenger service charges accounted for the highest earning of Sh14 billion, while Sh5 billion accrued from non-aeronautical activities, including car parking, duty-free, advertising, cargo and general retail.
Even then, KAA notes that JKIA remains one of the cheapest airports as fare as aeronautical services are concerned compared to O.R Tambo in Johannesburg, Harare and Khartoum.