… suspends Airport Concession, Nigeria Air Project
… relocates private hangars
The new Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has ordered a shut down of the old Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, while directing airlines to relocate to the new terminal of the airport, effective October 1, 2023.
He has also put a halt on the concession of airports and the proposed national carrier project – the Nigerian Air.
Keyamo announced these during a tour of the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos on today.
He said: “The major complaints have been with the old terminal. That place is an eyesore to Nigerians coming in. The lifts are not working. The passage is unwelcoming and there is no air conditioner.
“We have the new terminal but it cannot be used. It was designed without provision for big planes.
“I don’t know what happened and I have been asking that question that what makes them not to have aviobridges that would lead to the big planes.
“60 per cent of the revenue for the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) comes from the Lagos airport.
“Beyond that, Lagos Airport is the gateway and the first impression into the country.”
To solve the problem, Keyamo said: “We must use what we have for now. I have given both international airlines and local airlines till 1st of October, 2023 to move from the old terminal to the new one.
“We are going to shut down the old terminal temporarily and sort out all the issues surrounding the old terminal such as concession agreement.
“I have suspended all of that, including the issue of the Nigeria Air. I have given directive to suspend everything until I brief Mr. President as to what is happening regarding all these noise.
“The duty I owe Mr. President is honesty and to rightly advise him, as I am looking at all the agreements and everything that was signed to correctly inform him.
“I owe my loyalty to Nigerians to enjoy aviation services.
“For now the temporary arrangements we have are for the comfort of Nigerians, we have to find a way to use the new terminal.
“Like in many other countries, we have to get emergency procurement to buy big buses and move passengers to where the big planes can stop both for arrivals and departures, so that Nigerians can have some form of comfort.
“The long term plan is that we are going to find a way to build aviobridges for the big aircraft coming in and that means some of those private hangars will have to go for public purpose; we have to relocate them if we have to do anything for them so that we can have a beautiful, functional gateway to Nigeria.
“For now, I am giving them till the first of October to shut down the old terminal so that we can use the new terminal.”