Concern over Abuja airport closure as UK Dep. High Commission visits Minister

*Abuja runway expired 14 years ago

The United Kingdom Deputy High Commissioner to Nigeria, Harriet Thompson today, met with Nigeria’s Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika over safety concern with plans to divert all Abuja bound passengers to Kaduna Airport, to enable the government rehabilitate the runway.

This is coming barely three days after the government announced the planned closure.

The government had announced on Monday that all Abuja-bound domestic and international flights would be diverted to Kaduna for six weeks in 2017 to enable the government upgrade the airport’s runway.

Passengers would then be transported by government-provided buses to Abuja, some 210 kilometres away.

Some Nigerians have expressed concerns about passengers’ safety, amid reports of banditry and kidnapping along Kaduna-Abuja Road.

Sirika said the government would provide necessary security to travellers, telling the envoy that the closure was to let the badly damaged airport runway be reconstructed.

The minister said the runway would still be put to use while the work was ongoing on.

He said the six-week closure was to take advantage of the dry season to reconstruct the mid-section of the runway.

According to him, the government has put in place adequate arrangement to provide buses to convey passengers to Abuja or to railway station, depending on the choice of the passengers involved.

“A robust security arrangement involving the police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence, Immigration service and Customs service have been made to escort passengers from Kaduna to Abuja during the period of closure.

“I would rather lose five billion than lose one person,” the minister said. “Kaduna Airport will be used as alternative,’’ he said.

The Minister said that there had not been any major repair on the runway since it was constructed in 1982 which ordinarily was to last for only 20 years, adding that since the 20 years elapsed in 2002, nor serious repairs had been carried out.

“This cannot be achieved without having certain things in place and working in perfect condition. For instance, the Abuja airport was built in 1982 and the runway was designed and constructed to last for 20 years.”

On the involvement of the airline operators, the minister said that all relevant parties were involved and assured  Thompson of maximum comfort during the reconstruction.

He commended the diplomat for the visit and extolled the relationship between Nigeria and the Government of United Kingdom.

The Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja runway, which was constructed 34 years ago, has outlived its lifespan by over 14 years.

It was designed to last for 20 years. It has exceeded its useful life and that is why every now and then it is closed for repairs.”

Piqued by the situation, operators and aircraft pilots had expressed concern over air safety occasioned by the deteriorating standards of most of the country’s airport runways, saying they pose danger to lives and equipment.

President Mohammadu Buhari had in August this year approved the repairs of the failed portions of the Abuja Airport runway and reconstruction of the overdue runway as the federal government would soon contract the major reconstruction out.

Wole Shadare