FG, stakeholders meet on shutdown of Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport Abuja

Top officials of the Minis­try of Aviation and stake­holders in the industry will on Thursday brainstorm on ways to handle the chal­lenges that may emerge from the planned six-week closure of the Nnamdi Azikiwe Inter­national Airport, Abuja.

The Minister of State Avia­tion, Senator Hadi Sirika, had recently hinted of plans to tem­porarily shut down the airport to fix the runway and the taxi ways.

Since the minister an­nounced the plan, the indus­try players, especially foreign airlines, have declared that the authorities had not communi­cated the decision to them.

When the Abuja airport is shutdown, the Federal Govern­ment plans to use the Kaduna International Airport to ensure “seamless and hitch-free opera­tions” for the operators.

In a statement issued on Monday by the Aviation Min­istry’s Deputy Director of In­formation, Mr. James Odaudu, he said that the stakeholders’ fo­rum will take place in Abuja on Thursday.
He said that the meet­ing was in line with the gov­ernment’s belief in ventilating people’s opinions in formulat­ing and executing policies.

Odaudu said that invited stakeholders are expected to make their contributions and key-in to the plans to make their operations less problematic dur­ing the period.
According to him, the gov­ernment is aware of the likely high level of discomfort and in­convenience the proposed clo­sure of the airport would cause air transport passengers, airline operators and other service pro­viders.

He however explained that the decision was informed by safety and security concerns, stressing that government would rather lose billions of dollars in revenue than risk the lives of air travellers.
The ministry added that other Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and or­ganisations, including security agencies, the Kaduna State Gov­ernment, and the media are ex­pected to play key roles during the closure of the Abuja airport.

Senator Sirika announced the government’s plan to shut down the Abuja Airport during an unscheduled visit to monitor operations at the airport during the Yuletide.

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