Sixty days after the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu was closed for repairs without any work done, the Federal Government on Wednesday dashed the hopes of airlines, travellers and businesses who had banked on the airport reopening in December 2019.
Hadi Sirika, minister of aviation, while defending his ministry’s budget before the House Committee on Aviation, said the Enugu airport would be reopened April 2020, four months farther from the earlier announced December date.
The airport runway was closed for major repairs and works on the airfield from midnight on August 24, 2019, with Henrietta Yakubu, general manager, corporate communication of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), saying the move was aimed at resolving the existing safety/security concerns to flight operations.
Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu is the sixth busiest airport in Nigeria after Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kano and Owerri. The airport processes an average of 273,000 local passengers and 41,000 passengers annually, according to figures by FAAN.
Since the closure, airlines have had to divert traffic to Port Harcourt, Owerri and Asaba airports, while business owners in and around Enugu airport have been experiencing low patronage. Passengers appear to be the worst affected as they are forced to either travel through the alternate airports or by road.
Meanwhile, one-way ticket into Asaba, Owerri and PH which used to cost an average of N25,000-N28,000 now costs N35,000-N40,000, an indication that these prices would still increase especially with Christmas approaching.
Tayo Ojuri, CEO of Aglow Limited, an aviation support services company, said travel is driven by businesses and if there is a need for people to travel for business reason, they may have no choice but take the pain of going through the alternate airports to get to Enugu.
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He, however, said there are some passengers who may rather decide not to travel looking at the risks on the roads and as a result, passenger traffic may be slightly affected.
“Port Harcourt airport is the only airport that is able to take international traffic but, unfortunately, there is a challenge of distance. The roads are very bad at the moment and passengers may be looking at safety, security and convenience,” Ojuri said.
“Aero has activated their Owerri flight. For Christmas, people will want to travel because it is a cultural thing, so they will have to make more logistic arrangements. For those who can afford it, they may have to use helicopter services,” he said.
Indeed, some passengers who spoke to Businessday said they have had to change their travel plans pending when the airport is ready as a result of incessant attacks, insecurity and the bad condition of the roads.
While the Enugu airport was up and running, Air Peace operated four flights in and out of Enugu from Lagos and Abuja daily, while Ethiopian Airline operated three times weekly into the airport.
With an average of 150 passengers in an aircraft on local destination, Air Peace airlifts about 600 passengers daily. For 240 days (eight months) that the airport will be closed, the airline should have airlifted nothing less than 144,000 passengers from the airport. This would amount to over N5 billion (N5,040,000,000) at an average cost of N35,000 per ticket.
Similarly, with an average of 250 passengers on an international flight from Addis Ababa, Ethiopian Airline airlifts an average of 750 passengers weekly in and out of the airport. This would tally to 24,000 passengers for 32 weeks, and with an average cost of N150,000 per ticket on international flight, Ethiopian Airlines should realise N3.6 billion operating from Enugu airport.
