The federal government has been holding talks with some foreign airlines that have had reservations about flying to the Kaduna Airport during the period of the closure of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja for repairts.
The acting president, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo who stated this at the weekend at the Kaduna Airport during an inspection tour said not all the foreign airlines were unwilling to fly to the airport.
“One thing that is very clear is that it is not all foreign airlines that are declining to come; I have met some who are willing to come. I have just spoken to Ethiopian Airlines; they are willing to come. I think what we need to tell foreign airlines is that obviously, this is an emergency, and a temporary arrangement, and they should really work with us.
“We are concerned about safety and comfort. We will be happy if they work with us; we will be happy if they see it as a temporary thing and cope with some of the flight inconveniences here and there. And so we are persuading them to see it as a good temporary arrangement,” he said.
Also speaking, the managing director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mr. Saleh Dunoma said all the things needed for international operations had been made available at the airport.
“We are ready to take foreign airlines, all the things that they need for international operations are on the ground. What is important actually, is the safety equipment they need, the instrument landing system has been installed, the runway is good, the terminal building will be ready in the next five days. The foreign airlines have agreed…they will be conducted round the facility. I wouldn’t know which of the foreign airlines has finalised the decision to come,” he said.
In his remarks, the managing director of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Capt. Fola Akinkuotu said the agency had done a good job.
“NAMA works to provide safety facilities because our work is navigation, surveillance and communication, NAMA is very satisfied that it has done a good job. The glidescope, the instrument landing systems are in place. We have the approach flight that actually complements the ILS. The mobile tower will be moved from Abuja to this place on the night of March 7 once Abuja is closed. The NAMA engineers have been fantastic in installing many of these facilities,” said Akinkuotu.
