A DEVASTATING fire has caused chaos at Nairobi's international airport, forcing scores of flight cancellations at east Africa's biggest transport hub.
After being shut down for most of Wednesday, Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) will reopen for international flights early Thursday, officials said.
While Kenya's national carrier will land international services, it was not clear whether other airlines would also land as early as Thursday.
Cargo and domestic flights out of Nairobi resumed early evening Wednesday.
The inferno, which started before dawn, sent dramatic plumes of black smoke billowing out of the main arrivals terminal.
But by 9am (1700 AEDT) firefighters had succeeded in stemming the raging flames, despite being hampered by a lack of water and equipment.
"Everything is being done to resume normal operations," presidential spokesman Manoah Esipisu told reporters outside the gutted arrivals hall.
International passengers were given priority to fly to Kenya's second city Mombasa to connect to onward flights from there, while Nairobi's domestic terminal was being prepared to handle international flights starting Thursday.
The airport serves as a regional hub for east Africa, with 16,000 passengers passing through each day.
About 250 flights take off and land at the airport each day, regional aviation sources said, adding some six million passengers used the airport last year.
The fire was reported to have begun at the immigration section at arrivals, but the cause is not yet known.
No casualties have been reported, but two people - an airport worker and a passenger - were taken to hospital for smoke inhalation, Kenya Airways' chief Titus Naikuni said.
The interior ministry was forced to issue public appeals for Nairobi's notoriously congested traffic to give way to trucks ferrying water to the airport after firefighters tackling the blaze ran "dangerously low on water".
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