The federal government is considering the plan to concession airport terminals and access roads in a public, private partnership (PPP) arrangement to relief government of the huge resources it spent on airport infrastructure.
As government resources is depleting due to the low price of crude in the international market, government is strongly considering committing the private sector to fund and develop airport facilities.
The Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi made this known on Wednesday when he addressed journalists after the inspection of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
Amaechi said he recognized the major challenges of air transport in Nigeria, which include the decay of airport facilities and unprofitability of domestic airlines and pledged that there would be a turnaround of these problems.
Be the Minister insisted that all debts owed the aviation agencies must be paid, stressing that there should be no sacred cows, as the agencies are owed huge debts by the airlines.
He expressed satisfaction with the level of work being done in the industry and said that the administration would build on what had been done in the past.
“I am impressed by what we have seen. When people express dissatisfaction with the airport they are looking at the terminal only but there are a lot of things that have been achieved to make aircraft fly safely. But there are projects that must be completed. We have given the Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) two months to replace the two old conveyor belts so that there will be six modern conveyor belt at the international terminal of the airport,” the Minister said.
The Minister promised that the Muhammadu Buhari administration would complete the remodeling projects of airport terminals in Kano, Port Harcourt, Abuja and Lagos and the new airports being built would all come on stream by December 2016.
Amaechi also said that when the new international terminal is completed in Lagos it would increase the capacity of both the old and new terminals to 30 million passengers per annum
On national carrier, the Minister said government is committed to establishing a national carrier, noting that government set up fact finding committee, which had finished its work, adding that government was presently studying it and would make its decision public in due time.
The Minister also said that there would be total overhaul of security apparatus at the nation’s airport to fortify them and also enhance passenger facility, adding that safety and security is non-negotiable.
