The expectation of passengers and other airport users is soaring as they await the naming of bidders to manage terminals in Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt billed for concession this week.
Though the scope of the concession has not been unveiled, passengers say they look forward to efficiently and effectively managed airports fitted with touch bottom technology in facilities to improve their travel experience.
Besides passengers, both local and foreign carriers have expressed optimism over the concession affirming that concessioned facilities offer better travel experience for passengers as experience in other countries have shown.
The airports’ terminal concession is one of the critical projects under the Aviation sector Roadmap of the government.
The project is meant to achieve the Federal Government’s drive to develop the air transport value chain growth in developing and profitably managing customer-centric airport facilities for safe, secure and efficient carriage of passengers and goods at world-class standards of quality.
The unveiling of the bidders is coming 10 months after the Independent Concession and Regulatory Commission completed the evaluation of the 13 companies that submitted Requests for Qualification to participate in the concession bidding process.
A total of 13 airport consortia comprising local and foreign companies have submitted bids to be prequalified for the planned concession of four international airports in Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt.
Among the bidders include: Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL), Kano Chamber of Commerce, Mines and Agriculture (KACCIMA), Skyways Aviation Handling Company (SAHCO),Plc.
Other interested bidders include: a consortium formed by Turkey-based TAV Airports Holding, NAHCO Management Services Limited and Planet Project Limited.
Reacting to the government’s decision to concession the airports, Airline Operators of Nigeria, AON, has thrown its weight behind the plan.
An operator who chose to remain anonymous, said: “If the airport terminals are concessioned in a transparent manner to qualified investors, facilities that have been lacking in those airports will be provided by the concessionaire.
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“The new facilities would enhance passenger facilitation, enable airlines to operate effectively and also provide needed equipment that could convey passengers from the terminal to the airside.”
Speaking on concession, former chairman of AON, Captain Noggie Meggison, said: “Concession could be a solution to the myriads of problems of airport infrastructure, including obsolete facilities, inadequate x-ray machines, inadequate technical personnel and others.”
In his reaction, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of Air Peace and current Vice Chairman of AON, Allen Onyema, said: “Concession would help modernise Nigerian airport terminals and would be beneficial to airlines, which expect that state-of-the-art facilities are provided to enhance easy passenger movement.”
He also said a well-executed concession plan would add more workers to the workforce at the airports.
The Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika said over a year ago that about 14.29 percent of the over 8, 100 workers of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) will transfer their services to private sector players who will run airports planned for concession.
He said the category of workers in FAAN who will be affected by the development include personnel working at the terminal building , which constitute part of infrastructure to be handed over to would be concessionaires.
The minister said the concession exercise would not lead to mass sack of workers as claimed by some stakeholders in the sector.
He said staff redeployed to the concessionaires would have the option of returning to FAAN after a period of 18 to 24 months, while staff not required by a concessionaire would also be allowed to return to FAAN after the 18 to 24 months period.
Besides, Sirika pointed out that the concessionaires would sign service level agreements with FAAN and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) to ensure that airport operates efficiently, while the service level agreement would cover the runway, taxiway, security and air traffic management.
He added that the concessionaires were expected to provide and maintain landside equipment, while FAAN continued to provide and maintain airside security equipment, stressing that all existing concession contracts within the terminal concession would be transferred to the concessionaire(s) as part of their management obligations.
He assured that tariffs would be regulated in accordance with the procedures set in the concession agreement.