Ime Akpan
The managing director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mrs Olubunmi Kuku said she is opposed to shutting down any non-thriving airport in the country.
Instead, she said investments should be plugged to such aerodromes to improve the volume of returns.
Kuku stated this in a live interview on TVC and monitored by NewsGazette in Lagos.
She said apart from economic consideration, there is also the social impact that airports bring into driving the economy or helping to turn around the economy.
She said cargo and tourism could turn the fortunes of airports around.
“We are focusing on how we can improve the state of the airports…to increase economic activity around them.
“Our commercial and business development team has worked very closely with some state governments in terms of what they can do.
“One is largely around cargo. I think cargo is a sweet spot for us in the market.
“States like Kano, Jos and Ogun are looking to drive cargo effectively.
“But it is not just about building the infrastructure or investing more infrastructure on the ground. It is really about making sure that there’s a feeder system that starts all the way from the bottom of the value chain to drive cargo, the various segments of cargo,” Kuku said.
She also said tourism could attract investments to the airports stressing that it requires collaboration among the industry operators, the federal and state governments.
Besides, Kuku said there is the need to work on the infrastructure linking the airport facilities.
“The Federal Capital territory, for instance, has a rail line that terminates at the airport (Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport). It makes it easier for people to go there; whether they are traveling passengers or they are going conduct economic activity at the airport.
“Recently, we had a meeting with the Lagos State government. They do have a road that is coming from Alimosho to also open up the area. So the linkage is very important in terms of making sure that we can actually drive this activity,” she said.
On airport concession, Kuku said a hybrid model was being considered, adding that the minister of aviation and aerospace development, Mr Festus Keyamo was working with FAAN to follow through the concession process.
“There has been a review of the last concession process. When it comes to concessions, it is one thing to potentially find a private sector partner to work with you on those concessions.
“What is more important is to make sure that you, sort of, have the same goals; you are able to trash out some of the issues that have arisen and will continue to arise,” Kuku added.
On the fate of airport workers in the concession arrangement, the managing director said: “The minister has clearly said there will be no jobs loss. Of course, that also requires conversation in terms of the economics and the financials of what happen. So currently, we are in project development stage,” Kuku said.
On the menace of touting and official corruption at the aerodromes, Kuku said: In Nigeria, in this economy, there is no hard decision or policy that is put out that does not face any resistance.
“We have faced some resistance with the implementation of that policy, but I assure you that the minister and I are extremely relentless. We have come out. We have engaged with our communities… the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has also had multiple sessions, and we have made sure that all of the agencies that are working very closely with us understand the implications of our actions.
“We did find one or two people who were culpable. We have magistrate courts in some of our locations. We do make sure that they are prosecuted.
“If you are stopped at the airport and someone is asking you to support them in any illicit activities, you will find yourself culpable, along with those officials. We are putting all the necessary measures from our end to make sure that that stops as well.
“If any agency, including mine, comes to you within the airport premises and wants to engage in such activities, it is your responsibility to tell them no. If they ask you for funding, tell them no,” she added.
On infrastructure upgrade at the country’s airports, Kuku said the time to talk about the decay at the aerodromes is over as FAAN is preoccupied with fixing infrastructure.
“It time to start fixing and that is exactly what we are doing.
“What is even more critical is the continuity that is required. The biggest challenge that we see is that once we have a new administration, sometimes we tend not to continue or complete existing projects.”
Continuing, she said: “About the work that we are doing, as opposed to what has happened, we have carried out minor rehabilitation works at a lot of our airports.
Over the last 90 days, you will see that the airports are cleaner; they are friendlier. We have lit up some of those airports and they look specious. That is just the minimal that we can do in terms of intervention…while we focus on the large infrastructure projects.
“At the domestic airport in Abuja, you would notice that there is a lot that has been done. If you came into that airport about six months to a year ago, it was dark. We have lit up that airport tremendously.”
