The History of
Wilson Airport
From a widow’s bold gamble on aviation in colonial Kenya to one of East Africa’s busiest domestic hubs — the 97-year story of the airport that made fly-in safari possible, told from first flight to the present day.
Born in Liverpool, England, Florence Wilson came to Kenya after World War I with her husband Major William Herbert Wilson. Widowed in 1928, she used her inheritance to found Wilson Airways — and with it, built the airport that still bears her name today.
Nairobi’s first airport — and how it survived the century
Wilson Airport is the oldest surviving commercial airport in Kenya. Its history begins not with a government decree or a colonial infrastructure plan, but with a widow’s decision to invest her inheritance in a single biplane and a patch of scrubland on the outskirts of Nairobi. That decision, taken in 1929, created the foundation for all domestic and safari aviation in Kenya that followed.
The airport has outlasted the empire that initially governed it, two world wars, Kenya’s independence, the arrival of jet aviation at a new airport across the city, and the transformation of the East African tourism industry. Through all of it, the field at Lang’ata has continued to operate — often described as the busiest airport in East Africa in terms of aircraft movements — handling more than 120,000 take-offs and landings per year.
What makes Wilson’s history distinctive is not just its age but the continuity of its purpose. The airport was built for light aircraft, regional routes, and functional domestic aviation — and that is still exactly what it does today. The aircraft have changed; the role has not.
The airport is now operated by the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA), which oversees all of Kenya’s commercial aviation infrastructure. For the full historical and institutional context of how Kenya’s airports developed, the KAA’s own history records are the authoritative source.
Wilson Airport through the decades
Five distinct historical periods, each reshaping what the airport was and who it served.
Dagoretti Corner — the first airfield
The idea of a Nairobi aerodrome was agreed in late 1927, when a group of operators — including early aviation enthusiasts in the Kenya Colony — settled on a site at Dagoretti Corner (near the present-day Junction Mall on Ngong Road). This was an open, arid plain where Maasai cattle had to be driven off before aircraft could use the murram (compacted dirt) runway.
Imperial Airways, then pioneering the London-to-Cape Town route through East Africa, was among the first operators. The airfield was functional but primitive — no permanent structures, no paved surfaces, and routes connecting only where other airstrips existed, of which there were very few in East Africa at the time.
Relocation to Lang’ata — the airport takes its permanent form
In 1929 the airfield relocated from Dagoretti Corner to its present site in Lang’ata, renamed Nairobi Aerodrome. The same year, Wilson Airways Ltd was formally incorporated on 31 July 1929, with a capital of £50,000 — a significant fortune — provided by Florence Kerr Wilson. The airline’s first aircraft was a de Havilland DH60G Gipsy Moth, registered VP-KAC and based at Nairobi.
Initial operations focused on charter flights and mail services throughout East Africa — connecting a region where roads were often impassable and distances were vast. Scheduled passenger services followed as demand grew. The airline grew rapidly: by 1933 it had around 8 aircraft; by 1938, the fleet had reached 13–15 aircraft, making Wilson Airways the dominant regional carrier.
Routes operated by Wilson Airways during this decade included Nairobi–Mombasa, Nairobi–Kampala (Uganda), Nairobi–Dar es Salaam (Tanzania, then Tanganyika), and the ambitious Cape Town route in partnership with Imperial Airways. The airport was formally approved by the colonial authorities in 1933 and served as East Africa’s primary aviation hub — the only other functional airfield in the region was at Kisumu.
Royal Air Force takeover — a decade of growth ends abruptly
At the outbreak of World War II in 1939, the colonial government requisitioned Nairobi West Aerodrome in its entirety. The entire fleet of Wilson Airways — every aircraft — was confiscated. The airline’s pilots and engineers were absorbed into the Kenya Auxiliary Air Unit, which later became part of the Royal Air Force. Wilson Airways ceased to exist as an independent airline. Its assets went into liquidation in September 1940.
The aerodrome itself became an RAF operational base for East Africa. During the war years, the British military also developed Mombasa Airport and Kisumu Airport, both initially dedicated to military operations. A second Nairobi airfield at Eastleigh was expanded as the primary RAF station for East Africa.
For Florence Wilson, the war was a devastating personal loss — a decade of work, an entire fleet, and an airline she had built from a single biplane, all requisitioned without the business being restored to her after the armistice.
Civilian operations restored — East African Airways and a new era
With the end of World War II in 1945, civilian aviation returned to Nairobi West Aerodrome. Wilson Airways as an entity was gone, but its operational heritage was inherited by East African Airways, established in 1946 by the governments of Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania as a joint carrier. East African Airways took on the regional routes that Wilson had pioneered.
Through the late 1940s and 1950s, Nairobi West Aerodrome continued to develop as a hub for domestic, regional, and charter aviation. The post-war era also saw the establishment of humanitarian and medical aviation at Wilson — most notably AMREF (then the African Medical Research Foundation), which used the airport as the base for its Flying Doctors Service, providing emergency air medical evacuations to remote communities across East Africa.
In the 1950s, the colonial government developed a third and larger Nairobi airport at Embakasi (south-east of the city) to handle the new generation of larger commercial aircraft. When Embakasi Airport — later renamed Jomo Kenyatta International Airport — opened in May 1958, international and long-haul traffic shifted there, leaving Nairobi West Aerodrome to consolidate its specialist role in domestic, regional, and light aviation.
A nation honours its founder — Nairobi West becomes Wilson Airport
On the cusp of Kenya’s independence, the incoming government made a significant gesture of recognition. In 1962, Commerce Minister Masinde Muliro officially renamed Nairobi West Aerodrome as Wilson Airport, in honour of Florence Kerr Wilson’s singular contribution to aviation in East Africa.
Florence Wilson was present at the unveiling of the commemorative plaque at the airport — the airport that had been built with her money, named for her airline, and now permanently bearing her name. She died at her home in Karen, Nairobi, in 1966, four years after the renaming. A plaque at Wilson Airport continues to commemorate her.
Independence to today — the safari hub and humanitarian base
Following Kenya’s independence in 1963, Wilson Airport passed into the management of what would become the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA), the body that continues to operate it today. Under KAA, the airport has maintained its specialist role while handling steadily growing traffic volumes.
The modern airport is the primary base for AirKenya Express, Safarilink, Skyward Express, and numerous charter operators — all of whom serve Kenya’s expanding safari tourism industry. Wilson handles more than 90% domestic flights with the remainder comprising regional cross-border and charter international routes.
Humanitarian aviation also remains central to Wilson’s identity. AMREF Flying Doctors, Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF), and AIM AIR all maintain their East African operational bases at Wilson Airport. The airport also supports a network of KCAA-approved flight training organisations, continuing Florence Wilson’s own training school legacy from the 1930s.
The airport now handles an estimated 120,000 aircraft movements per year, making it one of the most active airports in East and Central Africa by flight frequency — a remarkable legacy for a field that began as a place where Maasai cattle needed to be cleared before a biplane could land.
Florence Kerr Wilson — the woman who built Kenya’s aviation
Florence Kerr Fernie was born in Blundellsands, near Liverpool, England, in 1879, into a family that owned substantial shipping interests. In 1902 she married Major William Herbert Wilson of the British Army. After World War I, the couple moved to Kenya to farm — a common path for British officers and their families in the early years of the colony.
Major Wilson died in 1928, leaving Florence widowed and in possession of a considerable inheritance. The same year, she was a passenger on a flight operated by the Kenyan Aircraft Company — aboard a Fokker Universal nicknamed Miss Africa — piloted by the accomplished aviator Captain Thomas Campbell Black. The four-day journey from London to Nairobi struck a lasting impression on Florence, who became fascinated with aviation.
Her decision to invest in aviation was driven partly by her passion for flying and partly by a clear-eyed assessment of East Africa’s geography: roads were seasonal, distances were enormous, and aviation offered a practical solution to connectivity that no other transport mode could match.
“The air-mindedness in the Colony undoubtedly owes much to the energy and enterprise of Mrs F. K. Wilson, who founded Wilson’s Airways in 1929. From a single machine named the Knight of the Mist the fleet and personnel has increased to eight aircraft with three pilots and three engineers in two and a half years.”
— London Times, June 1935, reporting on Kenya’s aviation developmentFlorence obtained her own pilot’s licence by 1930 and carried out survey flights across East Africa and beyond. In 1931, flying with Captain M.C. Mostert in a Puss Moth (VP-KAH), she made the first-ever east-to-west trans-African flight, from Zanzibar via Nairobi, Entebbe, Stanleyville, Bangui, Fort Lamy, and Kano to Bathurst (now Banjul, The Gambia) and then on to Croydon, England.
In 1933, Florence was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in recognition of her services to civil aviation. In addition to building the airline, she established Kenya’s first aviation training school at the airport and the first air ambulance service in East Africa — both institutions that foreshadow the humanitarian aviation role Wilson Airport still plays today through AMREF and Mission Aviation Fellowship.
For the full biographical record of Florence Kerr Wilson, the Wikipedia entry on Florence Kerr Wilson provides a well-sourced summary, including the key milestones of her aviation career and the founding of Wilson Airways.
Florence Wilson — key milestones
Born in Liverpool, England
Born Florence Kerr Fernie into a shipping family in Blundellsands, near Liverpool.
Marriage to Major Wilson
Married Major William Herbert Wilson of the British Army. After WWI they emigrated to Kenya to farm.
Major Wilson dies; Florence flies to Kenya
Widowed with a substantial inheritance. Became a passenger on Captain Campbell Black’s London-Nairobi flight, sparking her passion for aviation.
Wilson Airways founded — 31 July
Invested £50,000 to found Wilson Airways Ltd. First aircraft: DH60G Gipsy Moth VP-KAC, based at Nairobi.
Obtains her pilot’s licence
Florence became a licensed pilot herself, and conducted survey flights across East Africa and southern Africa.
First trans-African flight, east to west
With Captain Mostert in a Puss Moth, flew from Zanzibar to Croydon, England — the first east-to-west crossing of the African continent by air.
Awarded OBE for Civil Aviation
Made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (civil division) in recognition of her outstanding contribution to civil aviation in East Africa.
Wilson Airways requisitioned; WWII ends operations
Entire fleet confiscated by the colonial government at the outbreak of WWII. Wilson Airways ceased operations.
Airport renamed Wilson Airport in her honour
Present at the official ceremony; witnessed Nairobi West Aerodrome renamed Wilson Airport by Commerce Minister Masinde Muliro.
Died at her Karen home, September 1966
Passed away in Nairobi, in her late eighties. The airport she founded continues to bear her name.
The five defining chapters of Wilson Airport’s history
Each period reshaped the airport’s role, identity, and the aviation landscape of the wider region.
Wilson Airways built East Africa’s first commercial aviation network from a single biplane. Starting with mail services and charter flights, the airline grew to 15 aircraft and operated the region’s most comprehensive air route network — Mombasa, Kampala, Dar es Salaam, and the ambitious Cape Town route alongside Imperial Airways.
The airport at Nairobi West was not just a base for Wilson Airways. It was the only significant civilian airfield in the region, making it the hub for all early aviation in Kenya — commercial, survey, and private.
World War II ended Wilson Airways and requisitioned the airport as a Royal Air Force base. Florence Wilson’s airline — every aircraft and every pilot — was absorbed into the war effort. The field at Lang’ata became an operational military aerodrome for the duration of the conflict.
The war years also triggered the development of other Kenyan airports — Mombasa and Kisumu were both upgraded for military operations — which eventually contributed to the post-war expansion of Kenya’s aviation network.
Civilian operations resumed in 1945. East African Airways inherited Wilson’s regional routes; AMREF established its Flying Doctors Service at Wilson; and the airport continued as the hub of domestic Kenyan aviation. The opening of Embakasi Airport (JKIA) in 1958 drew away international traffic but confirmed Wilson’s specialist domestic and regional identity.
Kenya’s independence in 1963 transferred the airport’s management to the new Kenyan state, eventually consolidated under the Kenya Airports Authority — the body that operates Wilson to this day.
The 1962 renaming of Nairobi West Aerodrome as Wilson Airport was one of the early Kenyan government’s acts of historical recognition — an acknowledgment that a private individual’s vision and capital had created the aviation infrastructure the young nation now depended on.
Florence Wilson was present at the ceremony. The plaque unveiled at the airport that day remains on display. It is one of the few examples in East African aviation history where a commercial airport bears the name not of a political figure but of its actual founder.
The growth of Kenya’s tourism industry from the 1970s onward transformed Wilson from a functional domestic aerodrome into the gateway for what became one of the world’s most important fly-in safari ecosystems. Airlines like AirKenya and Safarilink built networks of bush airstrip routes that would not have existed without Wilson as their base.
AMREF Flying Doctors, MAF, and AIM AIR continue humanitarian aviation from Wilson. More than 120,000 aircraft movements per year — largely domestic, with 90% of flights serving Kenyan destinations — make it one of the busiest airports in East and Central Africa by movement count.
Aircraft that shaped Wilson Airport’s history
From the Gipsy Moth that started it all to the turboprops that define Wilson today.
de Havilland DH60G Gipsy Moth
Wilson Airways’ first aircraft and the aircraft that started East Africa’s commercial aviation industry. A two-seat open biplane, fragile and limited in range, but revolutionary in the context of the time. Florence Wilson’s airline began with this single machine, nicknamed the Knight of the Mist.
Fokker Universal — “Miss Africa”
The aircraft on which Florence Wilson met Captain Campbell Black, flew from London to Kenya in 1928, and discovered her passion for aviation. A high-wing monoplane built for tropical conditions. Florence Wilson later flew her own Fokker Universal on the inaugural Nairobi–England survey route.
de Havilland DH.80 Puss Moth
Used by Florence Wilson and Captain Mostert for the groundbreaking 1931 first trans-African flight from Zanzibar to Croydon. A three-seat high-wing monoplane with enclosed cabin — a significant improvement on the open cockpit Moth. Wilson Airways operated several Puss Moths during the 1930s.
Cessna 172 / Cherokee / light twins
The post-war and independence era saw Wilson increasingly used by light Cessnas, Pipers, and small twins operated by charter companies, mission aviation, and AMREF. This established the light-aircraft culture that defines the airport’s character to this day, and set the technical constraints (weight limits, soft-bag requirements) still in force on safari routes.
Cessna Grand Caravan 208B
The 9–13 seat turboprop that became the backbone of Kenyan safari aviation. The Caravan’s short-field performance, reliability in African conditions, and cargo flexibility made it the ideal aircraft for bush airstrip routes — from the Mara to Samburu. The majority of scheduled safari flights today depart in a Caravan variant.
Bombardier DHC-8 Dash 8
Used by AirKenya and Safarilink on higher-frequency routes such as Kisumu, offering capacity of 30–40 passengers — a significant step up from the Caravan. The Dash 8 handles Wilson’s most frequent scheduled services, including the ~66 weekly Kisumu departures that make that route the busiest from WIL.
Key figures in Wilson Airport’s history
The individuals — pilots, founders, and officials — whose decisions built and preserved the airport.
Florence Kerr Wilson OBE
Invested £50,000 to establish Wilson Airways in 1929, founded the airport, established East Africa’s first air ambulance and flight training school, and earned an OBE for her contribution to civil aviation in 1933. The airport was named for her in 1962.
Captain Thomas Campbell Black
Florence Wilson’s first chief pilot and managing director of Wilson Airways. An accomplished aviator who had flown across Africa and guided the airline’s early growth. He left in 1933 to become personal pilot to Lord Furness, and died in an air crash in England in 1936.
Captain M.C. Mostert
Florence Wilson’s co-pilot on the landmark 1930 survey flights across East and southern Africa, and on the historic 1931 first trans-African east-to-west flight. Mostert was instrumental in mapping the routes that Wilson Airways would later fly commercially.
Masinde Muliro
The Kenyan cabinet minister who presided over the official renaming of Nairobi West Aerodrome as Wilson Airport in 1962, with Florence Wilson present at the ceremony. His act of recognition was one of the early independent Kenyan government’s gestures toward preserving colonial-era aviation heritage.
Imperial Airways
Imperial Airways (predecessor of British Airways) was among the first operators at the Nairobi aerodrome, using it as a stopover on the pioneering London-to-Cape Town air mail and passenger route. Imperial’s presence gave the early airport its international significance.
AMREF Flying Doctors
Originally the African Medical Research Foundation, AMREF established its Flying Doctors Service at Wilson Airport in the post-war era, providing emergency air medical evacuations across East Africa. Its 24-hour coordination centre remains at Wilson and its aircraft still fly from the airport today.
Firsts that originated at Wilson Airport
The airport where several chapters in East African aviation history were opened for the first time.
Kenya’s first commercial airline
Wilson Airways, launched on 31 July 1929 and based at the Nairobi aerodrome, was Kenya’s — and one of East Africa’s — first commercial airlines. It pioneered the regional route network that East African Airways and later carriers inherited.
East Africa’s first air ambulance service
Wilson Airways, under Florence Wilson’s direction, established the first air ambulance service in East Africa — a direct precursor to the AMREF Flying Doctors Service that continues to operate from Wilson Airport today, coordinating missions to remote communities across the continent.
Kenya’s first aviation training school
Florence Wilson established the first organised flight training school in Kenya at the airport — a legacy that continues. Wilson Airport today hosts multiple KCAA-approved flight training organisations, making it not just a transport hub but a centre of aviation education in East Africa.
First trans-African flight (east to west)
In 1931, Florence Wilson and Captain Mostert departed from Zanzibar and flew a Puss Moth across the full width of the African continent — from east to west — arriving at Croydon, England. The flight was routed through Nairobi and used the airport as its East African staging point.
First regular East African air mail
Wilson Airways operated East Africa’s first regular air mail services, connecting Nairobi with Mombasa, Kampala, and Dar es Salaam in an era when overland delivery was slow and unreliable. The 1929 same-day Mombasa–Nairobi–Mombasa mail flight was a historic milestone.
Foundation of Kenya’s safari flight industry
The fly-in safari ecosystem — which now contributes billions of dollars to Kenya’s economy — was only possible because of the airport, the aircraft types, the bush airstrip network, and the operational culture that Wilson Airport developed over nine decades. Every safari airline in Kenya traces its operational lineage back to this field.
Wilson Airport — full historical timeline
Every significant date from the first airfield to the present day.
| 1879 | Florence Kerr Fernie born in Blundellsands, near Liverpool, England. |
| 1902 | Florence marries Major William Herbert Wilson of the British Army. |
| Post-WWI | The Wilsons relocate to Kenya to farm, following a common path for British officers. |
| 1927 | Plans for a Nairobi aerodrome agreed; initial site established at Dagoretti Corner (near the present-day Junction Mall). Imperial Airways among first operators. |
| 1928 | Major Wilson dies. Florence becomes a passenger on Captain Tom Campbell Black’s Fokker Universal flight from London to Kenya — her interest in aviation begins. |
| 1929 (early) | Aerodrome relocates from Dagoretti Corner to its present site in Lang’ata, renamed Nairobi Aerodrome. First flight from the new site completed. |
| 31 Jul 1929 | Wilson Airways Ltd formally incorporated. Capital: £50,000. First aircraft: DH60G Gipsy Moth (VP-KAC). Chief Pilot: Captain Tom Campbell Black. |
| 1929 | First same-day Mombasa–Nairobi–Mombasa flight takes place. Wilson Airways begins mail services across East Africa. |
| 1930 | Florence Wilson obtains her pilot’s licence. Conducts survey flights across East Africa and southern Africa with Captain Mostert. |
| 1931 | Florence Wilson and Captain Mostert complete the first trans-African flight east to west, from Zanzibar to Croydon, England, via Nairobi, Entebbe, and across Central and West Africa in a Puss Moth (VP-KAH). |
| 1933 | Nairobi Aerodrome formally approved by the colonial authorities, now known as Nairobi West Aerodrome. Florence Wilson awarded the OBE for services to civil aviation. Fleet of ~8 aircraft. Wilson Airways establishes Kenya’s first flight training school and first air ambulance service. |
| 1933 | Imperial Airways operates the first Nairobi–Kisumu Air Mail service. Wilson is the main regional hub — only other airfield in the region is at Kisumu. |
| 1935 | London Times reports Wilson Airways has flown over 1,100,000 miles. The Prince of Wales is among notable passengers carried. |
| 1938 | Wilson Airways fleet reaches 13–15 aircraft, operating routes to Mombasa, Kampala, Dar es Salaam, and in partnership with Imperial Airways on the London–Cape Town route. |
| 1939 | Outbreak of World War II. Wilson Airways’ entire fleet requisitioned by the colonial government. Pilots and engineers absorbed into the Kenya Auxiliary Air Unit and later the RAF. Airport becomes an RAF operational base. |
| Sep 1940 | Wilson Airways formally goes into liquidation. RAF takes over the company’s assets. |
| WWII | Mombasa and Kisumu airports developed primarily for military use. Eastleigh airfield in Nairobi expanded as primary RAF East Africa station. |
| 1945 | End of WWII. Civilian operations resume at Nairobi West Aerodrome. |
| 1946 | Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania jointly establish East African Airways, inheriting Wilson’s regional route heritage. |
| Late 1940s–50s | AMREF (African Medical Research Foundation) established at Wilson, setting up the Flying Doctors Service — emergency air medical evacuation for remote East African communities. Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) also establishes operations at Wilson. |
| May 1958 | Embakasi Airport (Nairobi’s third airport, now JKIA) opens. International and long-haul commercial traffic shifts from Nairobi West Aerodrome to the new facility. Wilson’s domestic and regional specialist identity is cemented. |
| 1962 | Commerce Minister Masinde Muliro renames Nairobi West Aerodrome as Wilson Airport, in honour of Florence Kerr Wilson. Florence attends the plaque unveiling ceremony. |
| 1963 | Kenyan independence. Airport management transitions toward the Kenyan state. |
| 1966 | Florence Kerr Wilson dies at her home in Karen, Nairobi, in her late eighties. |
| Post-independence | Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) assumes management of Wilson Airport. AirKenya and other domestic carriers develop the safari flight network using bush airstrips across Kenya. |
| 1970s–90s | Growth of Kenya’s tourism industry transforms Wilson into the primary gateway for fly-in safaris. Safari route network expands to cover all major national parks and conservancies. |
| Present | Wilson Airport handles approximately 120,000 aircraft movements per year. Domestic flights constitute 90% of total traffic. AirKenya Express, Safarilink, Skyward Express, and FlexFlight are the main scheduled carriers. AMREF, MAF, and AIM AIR maintain humanitarian aviation operations. Multiple KCAA-approved flight training organisations based at WIL. |
Wilson Airport history — frequently asked questions
The questions most often asked about how Kenya’s oldest airport came to be.
Still flying, 97 years later
From Florence Wilson’s single Gipsy Moth in 1929 to more than 120,000 aircraft movements per year today, the airport at Lang’ata has never stopped. It has outlasted an empire, two world wars, and the arrival of the jet age at a rival airport across the city. Its role — connecting Nairobi to Kenya’s parks, coasts, and regional cities on light aircraft — is exactly what Florence Wilson built it for. Use the links below to explore what Wilson Airport offers today.