The Ministry of Transport conveyed 1,432 airline passengers by road from Kaduna Airport to Abuja in the first four days of Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport runway closure.
Another 458 of the passengers were moved from Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja to Kaduna Airport, making a total of 1890 passengers.
Deputy Director, Press and Public Affairs, Ministry of Transportation, James Odaudu, disclosed these figures on Monday.
Odaudu said the statistics collated by the office of the Minister of State, Aviation, showed that 28 passengers, who arrived Kaduna aboard an Ethiopian Airlines aircraft on 8 March were the first to be transported by road to Abuja.
The remaining 1862 passengers were transported between 9 and 11 March when the domestic flight operations commenced.
Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika, said the figures would rise this week, with increasing awareness of the free transport incentive.
The Minister also implored air travellers to take advantage of the free transport and arrive early at the Abuja Airport end in order not to miss their flights in Kaduna.
“The passengers need to get to Abuja Airport four hours earlier than their scheduled flight, so the buses will bring them within Two or Two and half hours, to be able to process their boarding at the Kaduna Airport within an hour,” he said.