Stakeholders: FG’s Concession of Enugu Airport Raises Expectation of Transformation

Chinedu Eze

Stakeholders in the aviation industry have said they are expecting tremendous change at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, to justify its concession and service as incentive for more private sector participation in airport management in Nigeria.

The federal government’s disposition to partner with the private sector in the development of airport infrastructure and management was brought to the fore recently when the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development signed the concession agreement for the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu. 

The Concessionaire, Aero Alliance Limited is expected to take over the management of the airport and transform the facility and expectedly meet the key performance indicators outlined by government in the concession agreement in the Public, Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement.

On July 31, 2025, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved the full business case for the 30-year concession of the Enugu airport.

The Akanu Ibiam International Airport is an international airport, as designated by the federal government. Currently it has one terminal, the domestic terminal with extended facility for international operations. The international terminal is under construction and at the cusp of completion.

The airport is serviced by only one international airline, Ethiopian Airlines which has been recording losses on the route due to low load factor. But as an international airport covering the five states of the South East, it ought to have enough passenger throughput for only one international airline that operates there.

However, THISDAY investigation revealed that passengers who travelled through the airport to international destinations in the past faced hostilities from the officers of the Nigeria Customs Services (NCS).

THISDAY recently monitored processing of international passengers at the airport and confirmed the hostility of the Customs officials who behave as if they were carrying out crime investigation. A young passenger who bought shoes from Aba and was travelling to another African country became infuriated when the Customs official insisted that he must bring out over hundred pairs of shoes to the ground for inspection.

Nwanyiocha (Janine Udogu) a Swiss married to Nigerian, narrated her experience travelling from the Enugu airport to Addis Ababa in 2024. She recalled the unpleasant experience from men of the Nigerian Customs Service and the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS).

In a video she posted, Nwanyiocha narrated how her passport was checked 10 times by security operatives at Enugu airport who solicited for money from her. According to her, the security operatives become unnecessarily strict each time passengers refuse to give them money.

She compared her Nigerian experience to what she witnessed in Ethiopia. She said that on arrival she was respectively and professionally attended to and the same professionalism was exhibited when she left back to Nigeria. She said that her passport was checked only two times, compared to over 10 times her passport was checked at the Enugu airport.

THISDAY learnt that this is the reason many Nigerians who travel to international destinations from the South East use other airports, especially Lagos and Abuja. Research carried out by an airline that wanted to operate from the Enugu airport some years ago, found out that if 80 per cent of Nigerians in the South East travel through the airport, they can fill up large body aircraft twice every day or more during the festive periods.

The attitude of the NCS and NIS are the major factors pointed out by travellers why they have shunned travelling though the Enugu airport.

THISDAY, however, gathered from reliable source that the international terminal would be opened for operation in June this year.

Former senior official of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), James Shalangwa, told THISDAY in an interview that the Enugu state government is now in charge of the airport with the concession; “So, it should overhaul the airport, noting that currently Asaba and Osubi airports in Delta state are doing better than the Enugu airport.”

Shalangwa urged the state government to upgrade the facilities adding that the airport has not been fully utilized.

The Manager of Enugu airport, Hillary Umunna, volunteered that before now the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has done so much for the airport. According to him, the airport now has adequate fire cover because FAAN built facilities to access water from Ekulu River for adequate supply of water to the airport. 

He said that FAAN also provided water treatment plan to the airport, adding that when the international terminal is completed another treatment plant would be installed for the new facility. He disclosed that FAAN dredges the river during the dry season to ensure that enough water is supplied to the airport.

He identified the non-completion of the international terminal and the protracted runway problem as the major challenges faced by the airport management. But Ummuna dismissed the impression that the aforementioned airports are doing better than Enugu airport, noting that Ethiopian Airlines operate four times a Week to Enugu, using Boeing B737 MAX.

He expressed optimism that if the transformation of the airport is completed more airlines would operate from the airport. 

According to him, the international terminal is 80 per cent completed, “What remain are water plan installation, airside perimeter and landscaping. The airport had extended night landing from 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm.”