The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) failed on Monday to confirm reports that the Federal Government had started repairs on Akanu Ibiam International Airport Enugu’s runway.
BusinessDay’s investigative story on September 27 had revealed that work was not going on at Enugu airport as earlier claimed by FAAN and Hadi Sirika, minister of aviation, who said the airport was shut down to effect repairs and maintenance that would enhance safety operations.
The News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos State on Sunday quoted Henrietta Yakubu, general manager, corporate affairs, FAAN, confirming that her agency had started rehabilitation the runway of the Enugu airport — days after the BusinessDay report.
Yakubu said that work had finally begun at the airport ahead of the December 2019 deadline set for the completion of the runway repairs and other renovation work.
However, when BusinessDay spoke with her on the phone to get more details on the work, she said she hadn’t been able to get across to the engineers.
“The engineers are the ones that have the information and know the extent of what has been done. I have been speaking with the airport manager and he has also not been able to get them,” she said.
On August 24, FAAN announced the closure of the airport, which is the only international airport in the South East region, for the reconstruction of its runway.
Following the closure of the airport, international flights have been diverted to the Port Harcourt International Airport in Rivers by Ethiopian Airlines.
Similarly, domestic flights were diverted to the Sam Mbakwe Airport, Owerri, the Port Harcourt Airport and the Asaba Airport in Delta State.
So far, the Federal Government has shown little seriousness with the Enugu airport repairs, which is the sixth busiest airport in Nigeria after Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kano and Owerri.
In 2018 the Enugu airport processed an average of 273,000 local passengers and 41,000 international passengers.
The situation of the Enugu airport is in sharp contrast with what transpired during the closure of Abuja airport for repairs.
The Federal Government shut down Abuja International Airport on March 9 2017 and work began the following day by Julius Berger. Flight operations began a day before the six-week deadline given by Sirika.
Moreover, before the shutdown of Abuja airport, the Federal Government upgraded Kaduna airport. In February 2017, navigational facilities at the Kaduna airport were upgraded by NAMA ahead of the closure of Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja. The runway was also repaired to absorb the increased volume of traffic to be diverted from Abuja to Kaduna airport, said Mathew Pwajo, NAMA general manager, Safety Management Systems/Quality Assurance.
Four days after shut-down of Akanu Ibiam Airport, Olumide Ohunayo, head research and corporate travel, Zenith Consult and Travel, had wondered why contractors were yet to report at the airport, which is critical as the only international airport in the South-East part of the country.
“As at the time they closed the airport, I expected all the necessary materials to be in place. What was the rush to close it when the contractor was not ready?” Ohunayo queried.
ODINAKA ANUDU &IFEOMA OKEKE
