By Chinelo Obogo
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has revealed that the international terminals of Akanu Ibiam Airport, Enugu, Mallam Aminu Kano Airport, Kano, and the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos may be re-opened and commissioned on or before Wednesday, January 20.
Speaking during an interview at the weekend in Lagos, the Managing Director of the agency, Captain Rabiu Yadudu, said that the three terminals, which are Chinese-Nigeria funded, would be re-opened in order to increase revenue. The runway of the international terminal of the Akanu Ibiam Airport has been under reconstruction, while a new international terminal is being built at the Lagos airport.
The FAAN helmsman, who spoke on the need to transform the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) into a hub, said it is a vital consideration to have the airport operated efficiently and have all the essentials to meet the category it wishes to attain. He emphasised the need to link the old and new terminals as well as the international and domestic terminals to improve transition around the airport.
This is just as it was revealed that the Murtala Muhammad Airport, Ikeja, domestic terminal One (MMA1) recorded a total of 551,380 passenger movements with 6261 aircraft movements (landing and take-off) between July and December 2020 after the re-opening of the airport following the lifting of flight restrictions.
“All things being equal, we expect to have Kano commissioned before the 20th of this month, including Lagos and even Enugu. We are working to commission all the three remaining international airports before the 20th, which is our plan.
We need the businesses but, of course, our operations are pretty much going on but the numbers are down for now, only about 30-35 per cent. When we open more, it will be better and better service for the people and for us at FAAN, it will mean more businesses.
“That is an important consideration for us, to have a hub to operate it efficiently, you need this connectivity. We already have a committee in place and part of the success of that committee is that we have a linkage between the old and the new terminal.