The Nnamdi Azikiwe International airport, Abuja, has re-opened after a closure which lasted six weeks, with a test flight from Kaduna international airport landing in Abuja on Tuesday morning.
Abuja Airport
A test flight with the Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika on board, makes first landing at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport in Abuja after six weeks of rehabilitation of the runway and other facilities at the international airport.
The Minister is said to have flown in from Kaduna, while Ethiopian airline is expected to land at the airport anytime from now.
It would be the first major airline to do so, coming a day to the reopening of the airport, which the Federal Government says is 100 percent complete.
The Federal Government had on Monday, said the runway of the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport Abuja,
is 100 per cent complete and set for reopening to airlines on Wednesday, April 19.
The Airport Manager, Mr Mahmud Sani, who disclosed this to Channels Television in Abuja, said the terminal buildings at the airport have been upgraded for the safety and comfort of passengers.
“The airport is good to go. We thank the Federal Government for rehabilitating the Abuja Airport.
It is not only the runway that was rehabilitated, we also seized the opportunity to improve on our facilities at the terminal building. As you can see, every part of the terminal building is being touched,” he said.
The Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mr Saleh Dunoma, had also reaffirmed that the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport’s runway would be ready ahead of the reopening.
“We are leaving the remaining two days for Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA). We have written to them and they will do the preliminary inspection. They have to certify the airport that what we have done is in accordance with their standards”.
Mr Dunoma also disclosed that the authority used the opportunity provided by the airport’s closure to address other airport excellence in safety (APEX) related items.