Closure of Abuja Airport
The Senate last week kicked against the planned sixweek closure of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja beginning from March 8 in order to carry out repairs on its runway and taxi ways. Senate also summoned Minister of State for Aviation Senator Hadi Sirika and other senior aviation officials to explain the rationale behind the closure of the Federal Capital Territory’s only airport, a beehive of local and international air traffic. The Senate resolution was upon a motion brought by Senator Hope Uzodinma (PDP, Imo West) on the inconveniences the airport’s closure would cause and the need to look for options.
Senators were not the only group to express reservations over the planned diversion of air traffic to Kaduna airport, a distance of nearly two hundred kilometres. The Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) has also opposed the move, saying though it supports rehabilitation of the Abuja runway, but it wants the facility to be repaired during the night without necessarily shutting down the airport for six weeks. AON’s Chairman Capt. Nogie Meggison said Kaduna airport might not be ready for the volume of traffic that Abuja airport handles, among other issues.
He said, “The runway can be repaired at night, like what is done in other countries. A case study is Gatwick Airport, which handles 400,000 passengers annually, far higher than what Abuja handles. Or alternatively, the runway in Abuja is 3, 900 metres and if you split it into two, you will get roughly 2,000 metres. With 2, 000 metres of runway, they can fix one side for three or four weeks and come back to the other side. With 2,000 metres of runway, a 737 aircraft can comfortably get into it for a one-hour flight and a DRJ, Dash-8 and domestic carriers can come in. International carriers can go to Lagos and Kano, and we distribute for them, like what is done anywhere in the world.”
The scepticism trailing the proposed airport closure is understandable given the reported upsurge in armed robbery and kidnapping along the Abuja-Kaduna road in recent times. The Abuja-Kaduna highway is also in a bad shape right now. In addition, Kaduna Airport lacks the capacity to handle increased aviation activities such as high passenger and cargo traffic. However, Aviation Minister Sirika recently briefed an industry-wide meeting attended by officials of different security agencies, representatives of foreign embassies in Nigeria, international airline operators and their domestic counterparts. Himself a renowned aviator, Sirika said working at night to repair Abuja airport is not feasible.
He said, “All the four-level structures on that runway are completely gone. It is completely dilapidated. This working at night without disruption of flights is what we have been doing for 14 years on that runway and we have been achieving the same result. To stop spending billions and getting the same result, we engaged a wide range of engineers, who advised that it be closed and a complete and thorough job be done on the runway.” Sirika told senators the same thing last week.
It is highly regrettable that Abuja airport was allowed to deteriorate to this level over many years. At this point however it is too late for blame games. Very costly though this option is, it is better to close the airport for the six weeks and thoroughly do the necessary repair work. We should also embark on another project to add another runway to Abuja airport as soon as possible. The Federal Government is also well advised to build a second airport in Abuja, or else we could one day be faced with a prolonged emergency closure of the city’s only airport. In the meantime, for the period of the closure, foreign airlines should be diverted to Lagos while domestic carriers should convey passengers to Kaduna. It is inconvenient but for now, we do not see a better option.