Air operators have opposed the plan to lease Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) to India’s Adani Group, joining a growing list of critics of the deal shrouded in secrecy. Through their lobby, the Kenya Association of Air Operators (KAAO), the operators maintained that leasing out JKIA to Adani Airports Holdings Limited (AAHL) should be done through competitive bidding given its strategic importance. The plan to lease JKIA to AAHL— a subsidiary of Adani Group— flew into headwinds after a whistleblower lifted the lid on the deal in July. Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) secretly cleared AAHL to take over JKIA, before a court order slammed the brakes on the plan. The Indian firm's approval came in 17 days, even as KAA sat on another proposal from an Argentinian firm, the Corporación América Airports SA.

Source: Daily Nation October 12, 2024 15:12 UTC