Airlines will resume operations today, one day ahead of the
deadline, after completion of repair works on the runway of the Nnamdi Azikiwe
International Airport (NAIA), Abuja.
Information from the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria
(FAAN) stated this yesterday.
It said an Ethiopian Airline flight will be the first to
land at the newly renovated runway by 11:00am today.
It would be recalled that the second busiest airport had
been closed down for six weeks, from March 8, while the Abuja-bound traffic was
diverted to Kaduna International Airport.
The Federal Government had promised that the airport would
reopen on Wednesday even as the Minister of State for Aviation, Senator Hadi
Sirika, put his job on the line, promising to resign if the rehabilitation of
the runway was not completed in six weeks.
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) Managing
Director, Engr. Saleh Dunoma, had said the repair work was completed while the Nigeria
Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) had inspected it and certified the
airport.
Airlines, also commended the Federal Government for
fulfilling the promise to reopen the airport tomorrow, saying they would resume
flights in and out of the airport.
An operator said, “We are happy that the Federal Government
kept to its promise and in due course, we will also resume Abuja flights.”
It was learnt that the closure of the airport led to
reduction in passenger movement due to what some people called the
inconvenience of going to Kaduna.
Checks at the domestic wing of the airport showed that it
was not busy despite the Easter holiday.
“This is early morning and can you
notice any rush”, a passenger told Daily Trust at the MMA 2 yesterday.
Spokesman for Air Peace, Mr. Chris Iwarah, also said the
airline would resume Abuja flights tomorrow, and commended air travellers for
keeping faith with the airline and making a huge sacrifice to ensure repair of
the bad portions of the runway of the Abuja airport.
The airline also praised the Federal Government and the
Minister of State for Aviation for ensuring speedy completion of the repair
work on the runway.
“We considered the decision of the Federal Government to
shut down the airport for quick repair of its runway in tandem with the high
safety standards of our flight operations. At Air Peace, the safety of our
esteemed guests is our first rule of business. We do not compromise on that for
any reason.”
Meanwhile, Aviation Roundtable (ART) President, Elder Gabriel
Olowo and another aviation expert, Capt. Ibrahim Yinusa Kazaure, have urged the
government to sustain the same purposeful actions to turn around the sector
towards delivering one per cent of GDP by 2020.
Olowo said, “We in ART salute the minister of aviation and
his agencies for living true to the promise to deliver Abuja runway on
schedule as we count down to April 19.
‘‘It is our prayer that such purposeful actions are
sustained in the sector as we demand that aviation delivers one per cent of
Nigeria’s GDP by 2020 as against the present meagre 0.4 per cent. We demand for
measurable growth on the airline side and the Airports.”
By Chris Agabi & Abdullateef Aliyu
