Airlines desert Abuja during repairs but may not return

It is less than a month to go until Nigeria shuts down the airport in its capital city, Abuja, and it seems that international airlines are deserting the sinking ship — for now anyway.

The shutdown is scheduled for just six weeks to enable the defunct runway to be upgraded.

South African Airways announced last week that it would suspend its direct flight from Johannesburg to Abuja, launched a year ago, while the repairs take place. It joins British Airways, Air France, Lufthansa and cargo carriers. The international carriers have eschewed the alternative offered to them by the government — diverting flights to the city of Kaduna, 250km north of Abuja.

Security is a major concern. In the past few months hundreds of people have died in fighting in the south of Kaduna State and churches have been bombed.

A three-hour drive through this neck of the woods is not attractive for potential passengers, despite the government’s plan to deploy 400 patrol vehicles along the route. Airlines have also voiced concern about inadequate capacity at Kaduna’s airport, as well as a lack of ancillary services such as in-flight catering.

Nigeria’s aviation ministry said the closure was necessary because the runway, which was built in 1982 with a 20-year lifespan, had become unsafe. It has ruled out alternative options, such as staggered repairs and nighttime-only closures.

There are concerns that international airlines may not rush back to Abuja at the end of the shutdown.

Already, in 2016 Emirates and Kenya Airways suspended flights to the capital indefinitely, citing low load factors resulting from the country’s foreign currency shortages.

Another concern is that the shutdown may be longer than the promised six weeks.

The Abuja closure may be a boost for the country’s 14 local airlines. Kaduna’s airport is big enough for local airlines and the hope is that passengers may fly to Lagos and take a local airline to the northern city for onward travel.

However, most local carriers are not well known and many foreign business people can fly only on carriers accredited by their companies.

The most credible Nigerian airline until recently, Arik Air, was put into receivership last week. A plan to build a second runway at Abuja’s airport was scuppered in 2010 by legislators after the contract turned out to be hugely inflated, the result of a lack of transparency in the tender process. The contract amount was reviewed and significantly reduced.

But the controversial project was eventually cancelled and promises to reissue a contract have yet to be met.

The timing of the airport closure could not be worse for a country already hard hit by low commodity prices. The move is also, as many Nigerians have said, an embarrassment for Africa’s biggest economy.

Abuja is the seat of government and a hub for pan-African conferences.

The failure to plan ahead for key infrastructure needs is not unusual in Africa.

Although much is made of the billions that African countries need to address the continent’s infrastructure deficit, there are many other factors contributing to the enduring deficits.

One of them is the failure of governments to prioritise. Available revenues are often diverted to unproductive uses, particularly recurrent expenditure. Bureaucracies and officials tend to swallow up more than their due in national budgets. Nigeria, for example, still has some of the world’s highest-paid legislators despite its economic problems.

The Abuja runway saga is not just about an airport.

It is a microcosm of broader structural and governance challenges, not just in Nigeria, but in many other African countries.