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Tag: Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport

  • Why foreign airlines are rejecting Kaduna Airport – APC chieftain

    Why foreign airlines are rejecting Kaduna Airport – APC chieftain

    A chieftain of the APC in Kaduna State Yusuf Ali, has attributed the decision by foreign airlines to use the Kaduna airport as alternative airport when the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport is closed to bad publicity as a result of politicization of the decision.

    Ali who said it was no longer in doubt whether the runway at the Abuja airport was in need of repair said the Kaduna state government has demonstrated enough commitment to accepting the challenge by scaling up infrastructure and security to compliment efforts of the government.

    “Since the idea of the diversion of air traffic from Abuja to Kaduna was mooted, the Governor has faced the challenge squarely through the provision of complementary infrastructure and security to ensure the safety and comfort of passengers.

    “I watched with keen interest the debate that ensued in the wake of the decision to use the Kaduna airport for the duration of the repairs of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja. Some people deliberately attempted to politicised the patriotic intentions of the Buhari Administration. 

    “But the truth of the matter is that Abuja Airport runway is due for repairs and the only viable alternative is Kaduna. It therefore becomes imperative for lovers of development to embrace and support this decision instead of casting aspersions.

    “One of the major attractions to Kaduna is the availability of standard gauge rail-line between Kaduna and Abuja. For any passenger who desires alternative and convenient means of transportation to Abuja, he can simply use the services of the speed train that takes him to Abuja in matter of minutes. 

    “Of course there is need for the Minister of Transportation to consider increasing the frequency of the trips between Kaduna to Abuja as against the two trips per day being operated the Nigerian Railway Corporation in order to meet up with the volume of passengers. The road is also convenient courtesy of the intervention of the Kaduna State Government in some areas.

    “Kaduna also has a genial environment that is a natural attraction for visitors as well as comfortable hotels and guesthouses for those who may wish sleep over. The security in the state is also tight to guarantee the safety to passengers,” he said.

    Ali condemned the negative publicity being given the use of the Kaduna International Airport in spite of the upgrading of infrastructure at the airport by the government, adding that it was such negative publicity that informed the decisions of some international airlines to boycott Kaduna even though they fly into Port Harcourt with far inferior infrastructure.

    He said: “Some international airlines go to Port Harcourt but because of what they read in the newspapers being promoted by some sentimental analysts, they are now dragging their foot on coming to Kaduna, which has all it takes to accommodate their airlines. To be candid, which contiguous state to Abuja has airport and navigational facilities that can accommodate commercial airlines save for Kaduna.

    “I am appealing to such international airlines to rescind this very unpopular decision which is not grounded in any fair analysis or fact but purely based on media sentiment. This is in consideration of the fact that Nigeria is their biggest market in Africa and the least they can do is to reconsider their decision and fly into Kaduna”.

  • Senate fails to stop closure of Abuja airport

    The Senate on Tuesday failed to stop the planned closure of Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja for the rehabilitation of the runway of the airport.

    At a resumed hearing on the proposed closure on Tuesday, the Senate said that it would have preferred segmented repairs of the runway to avoid a total closure of the airport.

    Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu who presided over Senate plenary told the Minister of Works, Babatunde Fashola and Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika that although “Senate prefers segmented repairs of the runway to avoid total closure, the Ministry of Aviation could take a decision based on advice by stakeholders.”

    Ekweremadu added, “Final decision is yours and you will also take responsibility. While you take final decision, endeavour to take note of our concerns and the concerns of other stakeholder.

    “Also take into consideration the position of local and foreign airlines that they would have preferred continued use of the airport while repair is going on.”

    While Sirika and Fashola insisted that there was no alternative to shutting down the airport to ensure proper rehabilitation of the runway, the Nigeria Society of Engineer (NSE) disagreed.

    The NSE said that its meeting with the relevant agencies confirmed that it is possible to carry out the proposed reconstruction of the runway without shutting down the airport.

    Julius Berger, scheduled to handle the repair works, backed the government’s position that the airport be shut.

    The construction giant told the Senate that the only way to ensure holistic repairs was to shut down the airport.

     

  • Minister to meet stakeholders over Abuja Airport

    Minister to meet stakeholders over Abuja Airport

    The Minister of State, Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, will on Thursday engage the Industry’s Stakeholders on issues arising from the proposed closure of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, for repairs on its runway.

    Sirika disclosed this in a statement issued by Mr James Odaudu, Deputy Director, Press and Public Affairs, Ministry of Transportation on Monday in Abuja.

    He said the meeting was a follow-up to the decision of the Federal Government to temporarily shut down operations at the airport for six weeks in February and March.

    According to the minister, the Stakeholders’ Forum will afford him with the opportunity to officially inform the sector’s players of the decision.

    “It is also to brief them on efforts being made to ensure that the use of the Kaduna International Airport as an alternative during the six-Week closure of the Abuja Airport is seamless and hitch-free.

    “The Stakeholders will also be expected to make their contributions and key into the plans to make their operations during the period less problematic,” he said.

    Sirika, however, emphasised that the Forum was in line with government’s belief in ventilating people’s opinions in formulating and executing policies.

    He said that government was 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 explained that the decision was informed by safety and security concerns, saying that government would rather lose billions of dollars in revenue than to risk lives.

    The minister also disclosed that the ministry would invite other Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) as well as security agencies and the Kaduna State Government who were expected to play roles during the six-week period.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the minister had in December revealed government plans to shut down the airport while briefing newsmen on its efforts toward addressing the challenges of aviation fuel.

  • Foreign airline’s flight reduction, a blessing – Expert

    Foreign airline’s flight reduction, a blessing – Expert

    A former President of the Aviation Round Table (ART), Capt. Dele Ore, on Wednesday, said that the reduction of flight operations in Nigeria by some foreign airlines was a blessing in disguise.

    Ore, who made the assertion in an interview with newsmen in Lagos, urged indigenous airlines to take advantage of the move to secure a greater share of the market.

    Recall that two foreign airlines, Emirates Airlines and Kenya Airways recently announced the suspension of their flights to the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

    While Emirates Airlines said it would stop the flights to Abuja effective Oct. 22, Kenya Airways said its flights to the nation’s capital would be suspended from Nov. 15.

    Both airlines had attributed their decisions to the economic downturn in the country, foreign exchange scarcity and the shrinking passenger traffic on international routes.

    However, Ore said the restriction on foreign exchange by the Federal Government had exposed the antics of some foreign airlines in the country.

    He said: “How many Nigerians are employed by them? It’s all capital flight. If the government didn’t do that, we will not know how much money is leaving our economy but now it is obvious.

    “The ones who feel that because they cannot repatriate their funds are free to go back to their countries.

    “This is what will encourage the Nigerian government to support indigenous airlines’’.

    Ore also called for the review of the Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASAs) entered by Nigeria with some countries which had been having a negative effect on domestic airlines.

    “Today, we have no share of the market. Foreign carriers have 97 percent of the passenger traffic in this country, while Nigerian carriers have only three per cent.

    “So, it is difficult for Nigerian airlines to survive except government reviews some of its policies, especially the BASAs which allows for multiple entries for foreign airlines.

    “In the past, foreign carriers were only allowed one entry into the country which helped to strengthen the operations of domestic airlines.

    “But now, a foreign airline is allowed to go to Lagos, Abuja, Enugu, Kano and Port Harcourt with 21 frequencies and modern aircraft, so, it is difficult for Nigerian carriers to compete.

    “For them to do that, they will require nothing less than 50 modern aircraft, so the policy from the government must change first and foremost,’’ he said.

  • Why we stopped flights into Abuja, by Delta Airlines

    Delta Airlines has said it stopped flights   into the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, because the passenger traffic did not grow as much as the airline projected.

    The airline’s  Commercial Manager for East and West Africa, Mr Bobby Bryan, disclosed this.

    He said Delta Airlines last year discontinued its flights from Abuja to Houston in the United States, because it realised that the market in Abuja was not as big as the airline projected.

    He said other factors that occasioned the stoppage include slow growth of flight operations.

    Bryan said: “Though, we consider Nigeria as a huge market for Delta Airlines, but we had to last year stop flights into Abuja because we found out that the market was not as big as we projected.

    “We also noticed that the operations did not grow as fast as we envisaged .

    We thought the best thing to do was to stop the Abuja flights.

    But, we have not closed our offices there, we still sell tickets through the Abuja office.

    We do not intend resume operations there very soon.”

    Meanwhile,  Delta Airlines  has marked its seventh anniversary of daily non-stop service between Lagos Murtala Muhammed International Airport and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

    Bryan said Delta remains the only U.S. carrier to operate daily year round service between Nigeria and the United States offering hundreds of onward connecting opportunities via Delta’s Atlanta hub.

    Speaking in Lagos, Bryan, said: Delta’s flight between Lagos and Atlanta has remained solid, and we have been seeing load factors averaging around 80 per cent.  The top U.S. destinations that our customers from Nigeria have been travelling to include Houston, Washington, Los Angeles, Dallas and New York and this year alone we have carried some 100,000 passengers.

    ”Since our first service to the U.S in 2007, Delta has flown over 770,000 passengers.  It’s incredible to think that is equivalent to the population of the city of Abuja.”

    He said Delta Airlines had signed a joint ventures agreement with Air France / KLM  and Virgin Atlantic Airways, which would offer its passengers and frequent flyers combined and triangular  fares.

    He said the joint ventures would also offer its passengers more markets and choices.

    Bryan said the airline had opened an energy and power desk to assist the power sector with specific needs in Nigeria, Tanzania and Ethiopia.

    He further said:”The Nigeria  market is unbelievably strong, with its attendant challenges like any growing market.

    We welcome competition  and we are not threatened by it.

    There should be free market access . It is for this reason that think multiple entry point is good for the airline industry, so that airlines should not have limited access. “

  • Abuja airport runway to be shut again

    Abuja airport runway to be shut again

    The runway of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja which was closed for 30 hours for repairs last weekend will be shut for another 30 hours to complete the rehabilitation process.

    A statement by the Coordinating General Manager of Aviation Parastatals, Yakubu Dati noted that a notice has been sent to aircraft pilots and relevant stakeholders about the development.

    “The second phase of the rehabilitation of the remaining section of the runway would however take place for another 30 hours next weekend between Saturday 12, and Monday 14, 2014. A NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) to this effect has already been sent to all aircraft pilots and other relevant stakeholders, informing them of the impending closure.

    “The runway rehabilitation is being done in two phases to minimise the inconvenience the runway closure would have on air passengers and aircraft operators if it was carried out at once.

    “The authority regrets the inconvenience the second closure of the runway within one week, would cause passengers and other stakeholders.

    “We wish to assure the public and all aviation stakeholders that the conclusion of the maintenance work on the runway would guarantee enhanced flight safety on the Abuja Airport runway,” the statement read in part.