Airports and airstrips
Airports of North Eastern Kenya
Kenya's mainly Somali north-east, the counties of Garissa, Wajir and Mandera, has 20 recorded airfields. Wajir has the only long runway, 2,795 metres, built for the Kenya Air Force in 1977–78; since 2007 flights from Somalia to Nairobi have had to stop there for checks. Garissa and Mandera have short paved strips, and Dadaab, Liboi, El Wak and other towns have airstrips.
About this list
The rows join OurAirports (Kenya list) and the GeoNames gazetteer for Garissa, Wajir and Mandera counties (GeoNames). Fields that two registers place within 4 km of each other are one row. Heights from OurAirports are in feet, from GeoNames in metres. For the Somali community of the region see Somalis in Kenya, Dadaab and the Kenyan camps and Somalia and Kenya.
Wajir
Wajir Airport (WJR, HKWJ) has one asphalt runway of 2,795 metres (9,170 ft) at 231 metres above sea level, about 495 km north-east of Nairobi's main airport by air. The Israeli company HZ built it in 1977–78 as a Kenya Air Force base, and in 2012 US Navy Seabees laid a new runway able to take heavy aircraft (Wikipedia, Wajir Airport).
In November 2006 Kenya suspended direct flights to and from Somalia, citing security concerns over the Islamic Courts Union. After pressure from Somali traders to restore cargo flights, the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority lifted the ban in August 2007 on condition that all such flights stop at Wajir for customs, immigration and security screening. A new terminal was built and the airport was commissioned for both civil and military flights on 7 September 2007 (same source). The stop rule was still in force in January 2017 (The EastAfrican, 2017), and the Daily Nation reported on direct Somalia–Nairobi flights hurting Wajir's traffic (Daily Nation). Wikipedia records that as of August 2021 flights from Somalia still had to stop at Wajir.
The airport has about 100 staff, mostly police, and two military camps within its limits. It handles about seven flights a day, mostly cargo (Wikipedia).
Garissa and Mandera
- Garissa: GAS, HKGA, about 315 km north of Nairobi by air, with one asphalt runway, 17/35, of 1,200 metres at 145 metres above sea level. It mainly serves government, aid and charter flights (Wikipedia, Garissa Airport).
- Mandera: NDE, HKMA, near the point where the Kenyan, Ethiopian and Somali borders meet, about 800 km from Nairobi by air, with one asphalt runway of 1,100 metres at 231 metres (Wikipedia, Mandera Airport).
Border and camp airstrips
- Liboi: LBK, beside the border town in Garissa County, one murram (gravel) runway, 12/30, of 1,800 metres at 98 metres above sea level (Wikipedia, Liboi Airport).
- Dadaab and Hagadera: OurAirports lists the Dadaab strip and a closed strip at Hagadera camp (OurAirports, KE-0108; OurAirports, KE-6033).
- GeoNames marks further strips at El Wak, Rhamu, Takabba, Derkali, Ber Hawamadi, Khorof Harar, Dif, Gurar and Wajir West, and OurAirports lists Buna, Bute, Habaswein, Hulugho and Mado Gashi.
Every recorded airfield
| Airfield | Town | Codes | Runway | Height | Position | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ber Hawamadi | 358 m | 3.567, 41.512 | GeoNames | |||
| Buna Airport | Buna | HKBZ | 1642 ft | 2.801, 39.481 | OurAirports; GeoNames | |
| Bute Moyale Airport | Bute | HKBT | 2128 ft | 3.338, 39.414 | OurAirports | |
| Dadaab Airport | Dadaab | HKDA | 400 ft | 0.058, 40.318 | OurAirports | |
| Derkali | 923 m | 3.894, 40.315 | GeoNames | |||
| Dif | 108 m | 1.01, 40.941 | GeoNames | |||
| El Wak | 386 m | 2.815, 40.855 | GeoNames | |||
| Garissa Airport | Garissa | GAS / HKGA | 17/35 3556 ft asphalt | 475 ft | -0.464, 39.648 | OurAirports |
| Gurar | 895 m | 3.308, 39.544 | GeoNames | |||
| Habaswein Airport | Habaswein | 1.016, 39.506 | OurAirports; GeoNames | |||
| Hagadera Airport | Dadaab | (closed) | 360 ft | 0.008, 40.383 | OurAirports | |
| Hulugho Airport | Hulugho | 490 ft | -1.149, 41.047 | OurAirports | ||
| Khorof Harar | 288 m | 2.212, 40.749 | GeoNames | |||
| Liboi Airport | Liboi | LBK | 280 ft | 0.348, 40.882 | OurAirports | |
| Mado Gashi Airport | Mado Gashi | 1000 ft | 0.72, 39.18 | OurAirports | ||
| Mandera Airport | 230 m | 3.933, 41.844 | GeoNames | |||
| Rhamu | 283 m | 3.925, 41.224 | GeoNames | |||
| Takabba | 621 m | 3.427, 40.23 | GeoNames | |||
| Wajir Airport | Wajir | WJR / HKWJ | 15/33 9193 ft ASP | 770 ft | 1.733, 40.092 | OurAirports; GeoNames |
| Wajir West | 263 m | 1.782, 39.934 | GeoNames |
Related
Sources
- Kenya list · ourairports.com
- GeoNames · geonames.org
- Wikipedia, Wajir Airport · en.wikipedia.org
- The EastAfrican, 2017 · theeastafrican.co.ke
- Daily Nation · nation.co.ke
- Wikipedia, Garissa Airport · en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, Mandera Airport · en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, Liboi Airport · en.wikipedia.org
- OurAirports, KE-0108 · ourairports.com
- OurAirports, KE-6033 · ourairports.com
- GeoNames · geonames.org
- OurAirports · ourairports.com
- GeoNames · geonames.org
- OurAirports · ourairports.com
- GeoNames · geonames.org
- GeoNames · geonames.org
- GeoNames · geonames.org
- OurAirports · ourairports.com
- GeoNames · geonames.org
- OurAirports · ourairports.com
- GeoNames · geonames.org
- OurAirports · ourairports.com
- GeoNames · geonames.org
- OurAirports · ourairports.com
- OurAirports · ourairports.com
- GeoNames · geonames.org
- GeoNames · geonames.org
- GeoNames · geonames.org
- OurAirports · ourairports.com
- GeoNames · geonames.org
- GeoNames · geonames.org
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