Works to expand Kigali International Airport will commence soon and, upon completion, at least $15 million will have been spent, according to officials from the Civil Aviation Authority.The expansion was necessitated by the aviation industry, attracting new entries with the latest being South African Airways, Qatar Air and the Turkish Airlines. These have joined RwandAir, SN-Brussels, KLM, Ethiopian Airlines, Kenya Airways and Air Uganda.The expansion is aimed at enhancing the services as well as accommodating the growing capacity of traffic at the airport. Itwill be done in three phases; the departure lounge, arrivals area as well as baggage area.Escalators and lifts will also be installed to ease the movement of passengers.Speaking to The New Times, CAA’s communications officer, Tony Barigye, said that the design for expansion has already been completed and construction would begin in two week’s time.“As the economy grows, the number of passengers is expected to increase causing congestion at the airport, That why we want to expand it.”Available statistics indicate that for the past three years, passenger traffic has been increasing at a rate of 15 percent per year. Currently, 400, 000 passengers use KIA annually.The CAA has also procured the new generation hi-tech security and safety equipment worth Rwf549 million to enhance customer services through security.They include 5 hi-tech scanners (body scanner and 4 dual view x-ray machines), walk through metal detectors and hand held metal detectors.
