Nairobi Airport

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Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (IATA: NBO, ICAO: HKJK), is an international airport in Nairobi, the capital of and largest city in Kenya. Located in the Embakasi suburb 15 kilometres (9 mi) southeast of Nairobi's central business district, the airport has scheduled flights to destinations in over 50 countries. Originally named Embakasi Airport, the airport's name was changed in 1978 to honor Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya's first president and prime minister. The airport served over 7 million passengers in 2016, making it the seventh busiest airport in passenger traffic on the continent. == History == === 1950s and 1960s === Plans for the airport were drawn up in 1953, work started in January 1954, and by mid-1957 it was found possible to bring the operational date forward to mid-March 1958. The task was by no means straightforward, and many problems —largely of a civil engineering nature—had to be overcome before the runway could be built. The site chosen, on a great lava plain, is a pilot's and a controller's dream: eleven miles from the centre of Nairobi (the city's two other airports, Eastleigh and Nairobi West, are closer), its approaches are free from any obstruction for at least 17 miles in any direction. The nearest mountain ("high ground" would be a misnomer when Embakasi itself is 5,327 ft AMSL) is 25 miles away, and 10 deg off the runway centre-line. Visibility rarely falls below this obstruction-distance in the clear air of the plains, and it may have been possible to see the summit of Mount Meru in Northern Tanganyika, about 140 miles away; both Kilimanjaro (115 n.m. away) and Mount Kenya could be clearly seen. SOURCESWikipedia

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