Benin Airport completed in record time - Aviation Minister

Aviation Nigeria

Work has been completed and the Benin Airport has been commissioned by the Minister of Aviation Princess Stella Oduah in the ongoing rehabilitation and reconstruction of aviation facilities in nationwide.

The Minister in-line with the aviation transformation agenda, earmarked 22 airports which are to face necessary reconstruction, some dating back as much as 30 years. In the last quarter of 2012, 11 airports were part of the first tranche of reconstructed facilities. The Hajj terminal in Kano State and some airports were also re-designated as perishable goods and cargo airports.

The Minister Aviation Princess Stella Adaeze Oduah who arrived aboard an Overland Airlines aircraft in company of senior Federal Ministry of Aviation officials and the CEO of Overland Airlines was received by the MD of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria FAAN George Uriesi, before proceeding to the commissioning ceremony.

The Minister while in Benin had initially paid a courtesy visit to the governor of Edo State Comrade Adams Oshiomole.

According to Oduah the Benin Airport Terminal was completed in record time as the rehabilitation took 10 months, “the runway will be ready in six weeks, we had minor issues with the contractor but that has been resolved, it will be ready in by the first week of April”

On why the reconstruction of the airport was strategic, the Minister said Edo State presented a readily economically viable route and the airport will connect Edo to other states.

Responding the Edo State governor, Comrade Oshiomole thanked the Minister for including Benin in the list of airports to be renovated, he further stated that “Nigeria is growing and we need to make more investments to meet the requirements of modern aviation.

Gov. Oshiomole also stated that the state government had embarked on re-constructing the road leading to the airport so as to complement the federal government. This he said was premised on the fact that he believed public assets required maintenance from time to time and airports presented the first impression to tourists. He also used the occasion to commend President Jonathan for the support he is extending to the Ministry of Aviation

With the remodeling Overland Airlines will now commence six flights a week from Lagos to Benin, Abuja to Benin and Benin to Port-Hacourt.

The Federal Ministry of Aviation has continued to receive commendation from aviation professionals and air travelers alike, some of which include the Good Governance Tour earlier commending the aviation minister on the work at the Benin airport, and also the granting of the 'Man of the Year' award to the aviation minister by Champions Newspaper.

ABUJA GAT: A product of unwavering efforts - Uriesi

Aviation Nigeria

By George Uriesi

Today’s event is of great significance because it marks the formal commencement of general aviation services at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport since its inception in the early 80s, even though it is the second busiest airport in the country, after the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja. 

The airport has had to contend with decaying infrastructure and obsolete facilities that belied its position as the second busiest in the country, apart from being situated in the nation’s capital city. What was then the airport’s domestic terminal operated both scheduled and non-scheduled flights using the same tarmac and terminal facilities.

The resultant congestion did not augur well for efficient service delivery hence the need to separate the services into two terminals. Domestic flight operations were transferred to a wing of the international while the old domestic terminal was to be remodelled to serve as the General Aviation Terminal, for more efficient service delivery.

This new arrangement was made possible by the advent of airport remodelling project initiated by President Goodluck Jonathan and vigorously pursued by the Honourable Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Adaeze Oduah, who has not relented in reminding all of us that implementing the project to the letter is a task that must be done. Today’s commissioning of this new General Aviation Terminal is a product of her relentless effort.

We are happy to inform you that the Authority is bracing up for more commissioning ceremonies in the next few months because work on the remodelling of the other terminals under phase I of the airport remodelling project is nearing completion in Benin, Owerri, Yola, Kano, Enugu, Port Harcourt, Kaduna, Calabar and Jos. 

You may also wish to recall that the reconstructed Domestic Terminal I (formerly GAT) of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja was commissioned in October, last year.

Work on the remodelling of this new General Aviation Terminal started in October, 2010 and was completed early this month. 

The project entailed the expansion of the old domestic terminal and its conversion to a general aviation terminal for non-scheduled flights. The new terminal has a full complement of modern terminal facilities including check-in counters, shops, offices, duty rooms, conference center, dining room, kitchen, security screening machines and lounges, including a separate lounge for pilots.

By today’s commissioning, scheduled and non-scheduled flights at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport will take place at two different terminals, creating opportunities for huge improvement in service delivery by FAAN and other service providers in the aviation industry. 

is our hope that the completion of the first and second phases of the airport remodelling project will transform Nigerian airports into a haven for viable private investments. We hereby invite all well meaning investors to join hands with Government to hasten the fulfilment of this dream.

We wish to thank our dear President, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan for believing in the potential of the aviation industry to make Nigeria great and for matching this belief with action, through the formulation of the Transformation Agenda for the industry. We also owe deep gratitude to the amazon of the industry, Princess Stella Adaeze Oduah for her doggedness in realising the vision of the President for the industry. 

The airport remodelling project and other programmes for the industry would have remained mere paper work without the assistance of the National Assembly which has encouraged us through their various committees on aviation. We are grateful, Your Excellency. 

We also thank other stakeholders, who have, in one way or another, made today’s event possible through their various contributions.

On our part as FAAN, we wish to assure all Nigerians, especially aviation stakeholders, that our airports can only get better. The recent restructuring of the Authority was designed to make us adapt to recent developments in the industry so that our services will not fall short of acceptable international standards, as set by ICAO and I know that this is achievable.