FG, foreign airlines seek common grounds on Abuja airport closure

The Minister of State Aviation, Capt. Hadi Sirika yesterday had a two hours meeting with foreign airline operators based in Abuja on the impending closure of the Abuja airport for runway repairs.

The Meeting which was held at the Federal Ministry of Transportation headquarters Abuja was attended by representatives of Ethiopia Airline, Air France, Lufthansa, Turkish Airline, Egypt Air, South African Airways and Emirates Airlines.

The Meeting which began at about 5pm lasted till about 6:30pm.

Briefing journalists on the outcomes of the meeting, the minister said, the international airlines raised series of questions which he was able to answer about 95 percent of the questions.

Key among the questions the foreign operators raised accordingly to him include, the capacity of the apron hanger to handle at least seven aircraft at a time, availability of fuel, catering services, boarding gates, and the communications system.

Also discussed was the various government agencies (Customs, Immigration, NDLEA, Civil Defense etc) capacity to move to the Kaduna Airport to ensure seamless operations.

He said, the FG is committed to making flying into Kaduna, the alternative airport safe and comfortable.

He said, the foreign airlines have also agreed to inspect facilities at the Kaduna Airport ahead of the commencement of operations even as he assured the government will deliver on the six weeks earlier announced to beat the rains.

He reiterated that the airport will be closed on March 8th 2017 and open April 19th, 2017 and not a day late.

Recall the FG had announced the closure of the airport for six weeks to fixed the runway that has failed several years back.