Nairobi — The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) collected over Sh49.1 billion in the financial year ending June 31 this year at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) after the country's hospitality sector rebounded.

KRA's Customs and Border Control (C&BC) grew the collection from a target of Sh47 billion in the 2022-23 fiscal year.

Increased revenue collections came at a time when activities at the JKIA had improved in terms of cargo and visitor arrivals.

In the period, for example, the taxman raised Sh5.4 billion from the air navigation service charge, which is levied on planes landing at the airport, against a target of Sh4.8 billion.

"The revenue collection reflects a performance rate of 112%. The collection represents a 31.91% growth in revenue compared to the same period in the financial year 2021/2022," KRA said in a statement.

Likewise, revenue collected from air passenger service stood at Sh11.57 billion, against a target of Sh8.04 billion.

"The growth is largely attributed to an increase in the number of air passengers," KRA stated.

"According to the economic survey 2023, the total number of passengers handled at Kenyan airports increased from 6.703 million in 2021 to 10.238 million in 2022."

KRA also attributes improved tax collections to several initiatives it introduced for cargo and passenger clearance at the airport.

Some of the measures adopted include the installation of baggage and cargo scanners as well as the introduction of an automated risk management module in iCMS.

"It now takes a minute to scan a container and approximately five minutes to analyse an image of the cargo contents," it said.

"This has in turn substantially addressed congestion at the entry points. KRA has also continued to invest in other non-technological interventions to enhance its mandate under C&BC."