Reports about Emirates' Airbus A380, the largest passenger aircraft ever made, diverting to Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania instead of landing at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), elicited debate on the airport's capability. Speaking to Kenyans.co.ke, Geoffrey Wageni, Flight Operations Assistant at Corporate Aviation Limited, affirmed that JKIA could accommodate big aircraft including cargo planes. Nevertheless, Wageni noted that a plane should use less than 80 per cent of the runway before gaining momentum to take off. The expert noted that operators may have opted to land at Dar-es-Salaam instead of JKIA because of Mean Sea Level (MSL) performance. Hence, the higher you go, the more you lose pressure hence it's favourable to opt for Dar-es-Salaam," Wageni explained.

Source: The Star April 16, 2023 18:14 UTC