The chief executive officer of Execujet Aviation, Mr. Siza Madiba, has said that the company will build an aircraft maintenance organisation at the Gateway Agro-cargo Airport in Ogun State to support commercial aircraft.
Madiba stated this when the state governor, Mr. Dapo Abiodun, hosted investors in the aviation industry in Abeokuta.
Speaking at the event, Madiba said the facility creates an opportunity for a local aircraft maintenance organisation to curb capital flight since most airlines in Nigeria carry out their maintenance outside the country.
“The money could be spent in Nigeria where we have a facility, where employment is created, training is created and expertise is done. One of the expertise areas has to do with the supply chain in aircraft parts,” he said.
While addressing the investors, Abiodun said the Gateway Agro-Cargo Airport is not a one-item facility but would on completion handle both agro and passenger services.
He said the vision behind the construction of the airport was to expand the industrial base and open up the state as an agro-processing hub in the West African sub-African.
Abiodun said the project began with the collection of approval from the relevant agencies in 2006.
He said the airport is located in the centre of the state and would leverage its closeness to Lagos, the economic nerve of the country.
He said many investors had shown interest to invest in the airport, while the Nigerian Air force and the Nigeria Customs are to set up their base and training school at the airport.
“This airport has been built within one and half years because it fits into our transportation master plan; it allows us to have a multi-model approach that connects the road transport to the sea or ocean transport, to the rail transport and of course to the air transport.
“This airport is an agro cargo airport but it is also an international airport, so we will have activities for both agro and non-agro, and then we have passenger traffic as well.
“We have one of the biggest cargo aprons in the country; our apron is like four times the size of the cargo apron in Murtala Muhammad International Airport, about 82,000 square meters. We are also constructing a second apron, so one apron will be dedicated to cargo, the other will be dedicated for passengers, we have a runway that is about 4km in length and about 60 metres in width
“By the time we finish our terminal building, you will see that there is flow in our designs, our terminal building also looks exactly like the control tower admin building and the reason for that is very simple because we envisaged that this airport will be expanding quite rapidly, so we wanted to make for a design that allows us to expand the airport in due course,” he said.
In his remarks, the group managing director and chief executive officer of Access Holdings Plc, Mr. Herbert Wigwe said his company was the first to key to the vision of the state’s desire to build a world-class airport in the state.
“I think this airport will certainly be one of the very best we have in the country and perhaps in the continent and I think when it is completed, it will serve several other purposes in terms of an export processing zone.
“I happened to be at the bankers’ committee at a particular point in time where we were thinking of how to resolve some the challenges we are facing in Nigeria as far as export is concerned and apart from the seaport, this airport was designated as one of those airports that will be used to solve the problem of export in Nigeria.
“As a banker, I feel extremely fulfilled to be part of this project, a project by a responsible entity, one in which the leadership is fully aware of the implication to the wider economy, I am talking in terms of employment, development of the facilities and areas around the airport,” the governor said.
He added that the airport would create opportunities for employment and development in the state.
