President Muhammadu Buhari said his government plans to modernize airport infrastructure and expand the facilities to accommodate more air travelers in order to meet projected increase in passenger movement.
The international Air Transport Association (IATA) said that world passenger traffic would rise to 8.9 billion in 2030 and Nigerian would be significantly affected
Buhari made this known Thursday as he unveiled the newly built Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa stating that it was part of his promises to upgrade Nigeria’s transport infrastructure in all geo political zones of the country..The president said,” Todays commissioning is a significant landmark for international travellers especially those in the South South region.
Not much was done after these airports were built in the 70s and 80s to increase handling capacity of the airports and so we needed to take decisive steps to ensure that our terminals meet the minimum international global standards””In the 2017 budget, I promised to upgrade Nigeria’s transport and complete a number projects that will be beneficiary to the nation economically and these include construction of new terminals, railways and power projects,” he said.”Today’s commissioning is a direct policy to sustain economic growth in all geo political zones of the country,” the president stated.
Not much was done after these airports were built in the 70s and 80s to increase handling capacity of the airports and so we needed to take decisive steps to ensure that our terminals meet the minimum international global standards””In the 2017 budget, I promised to upgrade Nigeria’s transport and complete a number projects that will be beneficiary to the nation economically and these include construction of new terminals, railways and power projects,” he said.”Today’s commissioning is a direct policy to sustain economic growth in all geo political zones of the country,” the president stated.
Speaking earlier, Nyeesom Wike, Rivers state governor, assured the president that the people of Rivers State and indeed the South South are happy with the project stating that it would foster further investment in the state.
Governor Wike said,”I can tell you this today that the people of Rivers State and the Niger Delta are happy with you Mr. President. This terminal here will help the drive of the state to grow the economy and it will attract investment to the state. What has happened here shows that Rivers State is safe, Rivers State is secure and if it was not CCECC will not have been here to construct this.”
Port-Harcourt is one of the four airport terminals funded from the China EXIM bank facility to the Nigerian government.
Industry sources show that cost of the four Chinese terminals is 600 Million dollars aside from the ancillary works.
The contract was meant to be completed in 2016 but was extended due to some additional works and ancillary works necessary for the effective roll out of the project.
However the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has assured that all the projects including ancillary works will be completed by the end of 2019
The new terminal which has capacity to process seven million people annually is
approximately 28,000m2.
Other features of the new terminal include 24 check-In counters, three baggage collection carousals, 12 Immigration desk at arrival, 16 immigration desk at departure, four security screening points, four passenger boarding bridges plus remote boarding and arrival, two food courts, three premium lounges and spa, more than 2000m2 of duty free space and
more than 1500m2 of lettable utility space.
THISDAY
