Jomo Kenyatta International Airport

About Jomo Kenyatta International Airport

Jomo Kenyatta International Airport is an international airport serving Nairobi, the capital and largest city of Kenya. It is located in the Embakasi suburb, approximately 18 kilometres (11 mi) southeast of Nairobi city centre. The airport has scheduled flights to destinations in over 50 countries. Originally named Embakasi Airport, the airport's name was changed in 1978 to honour Jomo Kenyatta, who was Kenya's first president and Prime Minister. The airport served over 9 million passengers and over 364,000 tonnes of cargo in 2024, making it the sixth busiest airport in passenger traffic in Africa. It is the busiest out of the four international airports in Kenya, the other three international airports being Kisumu International Airport, Eldoret International Airport and Moi International Airport in Mombasa. Source: "Jomo Kenyatta International Airport" by Wikipedia contributors (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jomo_Kenyatta_International_Airport), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Edit history on the linked Wikipedia page.

Overview

Jomo Kenyatta International Airport is the main commercial airport for Nairobi, Kenya. Its IATA code is NBO and its ICAO code is HKJK. The clocks here run on Africa/Nairobi, the runway sits a high-elevation field at roughly 5300 ft, and the airport is a large international gateway, with around 130 scheduled departure pairs in the public OpenFlights schedule plus onward connections through partner airlines.

Terminals and concourses

Most travellers will pass through one of a handful of terminal areas at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. Bigger fields tend to split domestic and international traffic into separate halls, each with its own arrivals area, immigration counters, customs and a landside check-in concourse. Signage is bilingual wherever the local language and English share the airport, and walking between terminals at Nairobi's main gateway is usually possible on foot. Where the aprons stretch more than a kilometre, a shuttle bus or an automated people mover takes over.

Lounges and amenities

Lounge options at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport match what you would expect from a large international gateway. There is normally at least one airline-run lounge for premium-cabin passengers and elite-status flyers, plus an independent or contract lounge that sells day passes and accepts programmes like Priority Pass, DragonPass, Plaza Premium and LoungeKey. Inside, you can usually count on hot food, espresso, charging at every seat, decent Wi-Fi, and showers at the busier terminals. Quiet zones, prayer rooms and family areas tend to sit landside near check-in.

Getting to and from the airport

Getting between Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and central Nairobi is straightforward. Licensed taxis queue at marked curbs outside arrivals, with metered or zoned fares posted at the rank. Ride-hail apps have a designated pickup point, often one level up at departures or in a nearby lot. Public transport varies by city. A primary gateway like this one almost always offers an express train, a metro line or a dedicated airport bus running from before the first wave of departures until after the last arrival. Long-stay parking, rental car desks and hotel shuttle stops are clustered together on the landside.

Tips for travellers

A few things worth knowing for Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. Aim to arrive at least two hours before a domestic flight and three hours before an international one, especially during peak banks. Local time is Africa/Nairobi, so plan your transfers around the time difference if you are coming in from another zone. Save a screenshot of your boarding pass before you leave the house, since terminal Wi-Fi is hit and miss when it gets busy. If you are connecting on a partner airline, check whether your bag is tagged through to the final destination, because Jomo Kenyatta International Airport handles a mix of in-terminal and inter-terminal connections. With 130 direct destinations on the public schedule, this is a useful node for both point-to-point trips and onward connections across Kenya and the wider region.

More guides for NBO

Four extra pages dig deeper into lounges, layovers, getting to and from the airport, and the terminal layout itself. Open whichever one matches the problem in front of you.

Direct destinations from NBO

These are the cities you can fly to nonstop from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, based on the published schedule. Tap any one to open its own terminal, lounge and route guide.