Commercial flights to Abuja resume today, a day before the scheduled reopening date. This shows Federal Government commitment to ensuring conducive business climate in Nigeria.
Information from the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) stated that an Ethiopian Airline flight would land at the newly renovated Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja runway today by 11am.
This means operations have resumed at the airport ahead of tomorrow’s deadline.
It would be recalled that the Nigeria’s second busiest airport had been closed down for six weeks, from March 8, for holistic facilities upgrade, including repairing the runways.
Engr. Saleh Dunoma, Managing Director of FAAN, said the repair work has been completed and the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has certified it for commencement of operation.
The Federal Government of Nigeria had promised to reopen the airport on Wednesday, April 19, 2017, even the country’s Minister of State for Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, promised to resign from his job if the rehabilitation is not completed within the allotted timeframe. One action which is strange within government circle and/or among public officials in Nigeria.
With this development, some airlines have commended the Federal Government on work completion and commencement of flight operations.
The Spokesman for Air Peace, Mr. Chris Iwarah, 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.”
He also stated that 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.
Also commenting on the development, President of Aviation Roundtable (ART), Elder Gabriel 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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