Nigeria’s acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo Friday pleaded with foreign airlines who refused to fly the Kaduna route to reconsider their position, just as he told the contractor to deliver the airport on schedule.
Prof. Osinbajo, who inspected the Kaduna International Airport to assess the level of preparedness, observed that though work was not complete on the airport, he was confident that the airport would be ready for use when the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja is closed. The runway will be closed for six weeks.
The acting president was accompanied on the visit by the Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-rufai and heads of aviation agencies.
“This airport has always been a local airport and so a lot of work needs to be done to bring it up to the required standard. The work has made considerable progress but there’s still a lot to be done and some of it are going to be completed over this weekend, especially the ceiling, air conditioning and all that. So we think that it will not be in a complete state of readiness by Wednesday, but I expect that within a very, very short period it will be ready,” he noted.
To foreign airlines he said, “we have some here today who are willing to come to Kaduna. I think that what we need to tell the foreign airlines is that this is an emergency, it is a temporary arrangement and they should really work with us. We are as concerned about safety and comfort as they are and they are here also to see for themselves. So we will be happy if they work with us. We will be happy if they see this as a temporary arrangement”.
Though only Ethiopian Air has publicly announced its intentions to fly Kaduna, the Managing Director, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, Engr. Saleh Dunoma, assured that more foreign airlines will fly the route.
