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.”
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