The governor of Rivers State, Mr. Nyesom Wike has said that his administration will make critical interventions at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa to improve the international image of the facility.
The governor made the pledge in Port Harcourt yesterday when the new regional general manager of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) in charge of south-south and south-east region, Mr. Felix Akinbinu, paid him a courtesy visit.
“I will dualise the access road to the Airport from the Owerri Road Junction into the airport. I will also reconstruct the road leading to the VIP Lounge at the Airport.
“The state government will also demolish the existing VIP Lounge and construct a befitting Lounge. The new lounge will be a storey building. You have made these requests, which I have granted,” he said.
In addition, Wike promised to install streetlights on the road.
He said he had wanted to intervene in completing the terminal at the domestic wing of the airport but regretted the politicisation of the gesture.
He therefore called on the federal government to complete the construction of the terminal in the interest of the Rivers people.
He said: “In the beginning, I pleaded that I be allowed to intervene in the completion of the local terminal of the airport, but they declined because of politics. Why can’t they complete the construction of the local terminal? Is it because it is Rivers State?”
Earlier, Akinbinu had briefed the governor about plan by the Turkish Airlines to launch its maiden flight to PHIA.
He said the Port Harcourt and Kano airports were being considered for aerodrome certification and called on the governor for assistance.
