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$500 million new Lagos, Abuja terminals ready July-FAAN MD
- To integrate light rail with airport
- Why project was delayed
Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) Saleh Dunoma has disclosed that the $500 million new airport terminals in Lagos and Abuja would be completed and ready for use July this year.
He stated that the Ministry of Aviation and Federal Capital Territory are working on integration of the Abuja light rail project with the terminal when completed.
Dunoma stated this in an interactive section with aviation journalists at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos.
Thrice, FAAN promised to deliver the project for use, thrice the promise had gone unfulfilled because of circumstances surrounding the project which range from wrong location of the facility in Abuja, blocking the control tower and other structural defects that are been rectified.
While addressing stakeholders in Lagos last year, the Minister of State, Aviation, Hadi Sirika condemned the new terminals under construction and said that the ones in Abuja and Lagos were wrongly located because they blocked control tower and the fire service.
He however assured that the present administration would concession the major airports so that the reasonability of funding and managing them would be taken over from the government.
According to him, the airports have had some delays in their deliveries but that was due to some factors among which were the rise in exchange rate.
In 2013, China offered $500 million loan to Nigeria for the building of four airport terminals in Kano, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Lagos in addition to the building of international terminal for Enugu airport.
During a visit to China in July 2013 by a delegation of Ministers of the federal government, the Chinese company, Chinese Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC) which spearheaded the construction of the terminals in Abuja, Port Harcourt, Lagos and Kano said the project would be delivered in 20 months and work started shortly before the end of 2013.
Also attributing the delay to skyrocketing exchange rate, the FAAN boss said that when the contract for the terminals were awarded. The exchange rate was N165 to a dollar and that rose to over N300 to a dollar.
He said, “Already we have gone far and by mid-year, the terminals will be delivered. Especially Lagos and Abuja, if you have visited Abuja of late you will discover that everything is near completion, even the avid bridge are there now. In fact all that is left are the fittings and all those materials needed are on ground waiting to be fixed.”
Dunoma we also spoke on the state of the runway at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport Enugu said that the runway was in order and was created with aqua planning stating that it cannot be over flooded as it is built in a way water drains out.
He further stated that there are conditions when the pilot would need the Air Traffic Controllers (ATC) to advise them on landing.
On revenue generation, the FAAN boss said that FAAN has some areas where they generate non-aeronautical revenue, but the authority was more concentrated on its primary objective, to provide airport services and facilities and so dwells on aeronautical revenue as they are straight forward revenues.
He said,” We do have areas where we generate non-aeronautical revenue but this is not the way some other airports have solely based the majority of their revenue generation on that and we are an airports authority and our primary function is to provide airport facilities and services, so we concentrate more on that.
“However, when we are done carrying out our aerotropolis project and hotels start rising around the airports as well as other revenue areas, then you can say we have joined other countries to make FAAN subsistence in non-aeronautical revenue,” he added.
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