The Federal Government on Thursday declared that the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport in Kano State and the Port Harcourt International Airport in Rivers State would resume international flight operations soon.
Representing the aviation sector at Thursday’s briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, the Director-General, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, Musa Nuhu, said the government was getting set to open the two facilities to international flights.
He said, “Efforts are ongoing to reopen both Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport and Port Harcourt International Airport to international traffic.
“The reason why we are opening these airports is to decongest both the Lagos and Abuja airports and also to facilitate passenger travel as travellers will now arrive much closer to their destinations.
“This will make travel much more convenient for passengers. Instead of coming to Lagos and taking another mode of transportation to Port Harcourt or Enugu, when the international airport in Port Harcourt is opened, you may land there directly.”
On the issues to be resolved before the facilities would be reopened for international flights, Nuhu stated that the Information, Communication and Technology infrastructure at the airports were being worked on.
He said, “The issue of ICT infrastructure, which the CA-COVID is working on and are providing is one of them. And at this point I will like to express our gratitude to CA-COVID for the full support they’ve given to PTF and the aviation industry.
“The second item has to do with the port health services. They are working and getting adequate number of staff to man these two airports every day and that should be completed soon.
“So once those two items are taken care of, both the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport and the Port Harcourt International Airport will resume operations.”
The two airports were shut to flight operations by the Federal Government in a bid to halt the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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