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Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has said that the new Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA) may come on stream in the next two months, attributing the delay in commissioning and putting to use, the new Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) to the late takeoff of the terminal construction.
Both terminals are part of the US$ 600 million Chinese and Nigerian counter funded terminal of which Port Harcourt International Airport (PHIA), Omagwa and the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja have been delivered.
General Manager, Corporate Affairs FAAN, Mrs. Henrietta Yakubu disclosed this while speaking with newsmen adding that the delay in the new MMIA was due to the issue of citing the terminal location among other factors
Meanwhile, she revealed that Air Peace, Turkish Airlines and Emirates have indicated their readiness to commence scheduled flight operations from new Port Harcourt International Airport (PHIA), Omagwa and the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja respectively from April and June as part of plans to decongest Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
Speaking on the issue of decongesting Lagos airport, she stressed that FAAN had encouraged airlines to divert some of their traffic to airports outside Lagos especially to the newly constructed terminals as the diversion of traffic from Lagos make use of the new state of the art terminals as it would help in putting them to maximum use.
She also said that Lagos would remain the hub of airports in Nigeria and urged airlines to make use of the state-of-the-art facilities in other aerodromes across the country.
“We want to encourage our passengers that they don’t all have to come to Lagos even though we know Lagos is the commercial nerve centre of the country and the airport is the hub, but passengers can travel from Abuja and Port Harcourt airports to connect to their destinations so that we can decongest Lagos airport” she said.
According to her, FAAN is determined to improve flying experience of air travelers within Nigeria.
