Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) has started synchronizing its power back-ups to promptly pick up power in case of an outage.

According to KAA acting Managing Director Henry Ogoye, the power situation at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport has been exaggerated.

Speaking to the press in Kisumu during the KAA Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Awards Ceremony, he noted that the matter at hand is the time it takes the power backup to light up certain sections of the airport in the event there is a blackout.

“I think the power situation at JKIA is being exaggerated, the thing is, what Kenyans are concerned with is the time it takes for the backup power to come on board.”

Ogoye says the Authority can light up the entire facility when the need arises, and there should be no need for an alarm.

Further, he says engineers are on site to ensure the automation is done to ensure no mishap is experienced again at the Airport.

“I can confirm to you that work is going on even today, tomorrow, and the days after, we will deal with it to finality,” he said.

He noted that other KAA facilities are well off in terms of time taken for power backup to light up in the event of a power blackout.

Ogoye further announced that the backup system at JKIA is more than required to run the facility.

“The backup system is 13 megawatts and what is required is below 5 megawatts, so it is just a question of ensuring that we automate it well so that it picks in within the required time,” he said.