FG Wants, Functional, Viable Airports, Says Sirika

Chinedu Eze

The Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, has said that the federal government decided to embrace concession of airport facilities because it wanted to provide functional and viable airports to Nigerians.

Sirika said these objectives would be achieved with laid out strategy and by bringing private funding through Public, Private Partnership (PPP), as government does not have the finances to upgrade and expand the airports to meet increasing passenger traffic.

The minister, who made this known at the stakeholders’ meeting in Lagos Monday, explained that the airport upgrade was part of the aviation master plan that seeks to revamp the aviation sector through the active participation of the private sector and make it self-sustaining.

“Some of the core objectives of the aviation master plan seek to establish a national carrier; have a ready maintenance, repair and overhaul center; establish an aviation leasing company; establish five airport free zones; and the development of an agro-allied cargo terminal,” he said.

The minister also remarked that the four major airports in Nigeria located in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Kano were not designed as international facilities and therefore were not designed as international hubs but operate separate international and domestic terminals.

“The airports in Nigeria are currently operating in a suboptimal environment as there is relatively low asset utilisation due to the limited opening hours of other smaller Nigerian airports; lack of terminal capacity as the airports fall short of gates, stands and check-in desks’’, he stated.

He reiterated that the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos terminal, built in 1979 for 200,000 passengers, but currently processes nearly eight million travellers is obviously overstretched.

He pointed out that there was an urgent need for infrastructure investments and modernization, as all airports require investments in runway maintenance, navigation aids as well as terminal facilities.

THISDAY learnt that a solution developed for the obsolete and dilapidated aviation infrastructure by the Minister is the Aviation Master Plan that seeks to revamp the country’s aviation sector with the airports upgrade a major point for consideration, adding that the master plan included a comprehensive upgrade of aviation infrastructure in the country and a major component of this vision is the proposed concession of the airports to start with the four international airports.

He said his plan would achieve an aviation economy that would be viable and generates revenue to the government coffers through the optimal usage of all of the facilities.

Sirika said the immediate solution was to concession the airports and that activities were on to make this happen through the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC).

The facilities to be concessioned are the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, including the international and cargo terminals; the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, including the international, domestic and cargo terminals.

Others include the Port Harcourt International Airport, Port Harcourt: international, domestic and cargo terminals; and Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano: international, domestic and cargo terminals.

“Concession of the airport facilities means the government has relinquished management to private investors who automatically become responsible for developing the airport and making sure it measures up to global standards. The airports are expected to be improved on to meet modern demands which most Nigerian airports lack and the operational efficiency and profitability of the airports will thus increase.

“However, it is important that the concession agreement is well spelt out. Both parties – the government and private investors – need to come to a mutually beneficial agreement. This is where the ICRC will be more effective, to get the perfect concessionaire for the country,” he said.