By Chinedu Eze
Nigeria’s oldest carrier, Aero Contractors will from September 1, 2020 begin shuttle services from Kaduna to Abuja in response to the yearnings of its customers, as travellers from the Northern states capital have shunned travelling by road due to potential security threats.
The airline said providing the shuttle had become necessary as business is picking up after COVID-19 lockdown, necessitating increasing movement of people between the Federal Capital Territory and Kaduna.
After shunning travelling by road, Nigerians from Kaduna resorted to travelling to Abuja by rail but the rail system can no more meet the high demand of commuters, thereby making air shuttle necessary.
Aero Contractors said it will deploy its Bombardier Dash 8 aircraft and will fly from Kaduna to Abuja twice daily, in the morning and in the evening.
The airline’s decision to shuttle between the two cities has become a huge relief to businessmen and women, administrators and many others who traverse between the two cities regularly whose travel plans have been hampered by security fears and the struggle to travel by train.
The CEO of Aero Contractors, Captain Ado Sanusi said that the airline decided to respond to the call of its customers to introduce the shuttle service and also contribute in boosting the economy of Kaduna State with the service after the Coronavirus lockdown.
“We studied the situation and realised that many Nigerians are no more travelling from Kaduna to Abuja by road due to security fears. We also realised that the train service cannot accommodate many people that would want to travel due to high demand; so we have decided to introduce this shuttle service.
“A flight with our Bombardier Dash 8 aircraft will take about 30 minutes to get to Abuja, which is against two hours by rail and the cost starts from N15, 000, which is really a giveaway.
“In order to service our customers better we decided to response to the call to deploy aircraft between these two major cities. We are starting with two flights daily and will review as demand increases. We know that economic activities are picking up, especially in Kaduna after the COVID-19 lockdown and this is our contribution to speedy economic recovery of the state and Nigeria,” Sanusi said.
