The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has finally begun the rehabilitation of the runway at Enugu’s ‘Akanu Ibiam International Airport’. The news was disclosed by Henrietta Yakubu, the General Manager, Corporate Affairs of FAAN. Yakubu made it known that the work had begun ahead of the December 2019 deadline set for the completion of the runway repairs and other renovation works which the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, had earlier disclosed. FAAN had announced the closure of the airport on 24 August 2019 until further notice. Several circumstances had led to the planned closure which was said to have affected Ethiopian Airlines and Air Peace. The announcement of the closure was no surprise as it came more than two months after Minister Sirika, in May 2019, addressed the problems surrounding the Akanu Ibiam International Airport. Prior to this development, international flights had been diverted to Port Harcourt International Airport in Rivers by Ethiopian Airlines due to the closure of the airport. In the same vein, domestic flights were diverted to Owerri’s ‘Sam Mbwkwe Airport’, Port Harcourt Airport, and Asaba Airport in Delta State. The Minister of Aviation had scheduled a meeting with South-East Governors assuring them that Enugu Airport would be reconstructed to the standard of Abuja International Airport. While giving reasons to why the closure was necessary to resolve the existing safety and security concerns to flight operations, Sirika had said that the airport had a bad runway and landing aids.
FAAN has raised alarm that the insistence of residents of Ukwu Orji, a slum lying eastwards of the runway turning pad, would delay the speedy completion of the on-going rehabilitation work at Enugu’s ‘Akanu Ibiam International Airport’. Apart from the runway reconstruction, other construction works that have reached advanced stages include the rehabilitation of the terminal building, perimeter fence, drainage, roads, signal equipment installations, cargo section construction, clinics, pilots’ lounge, emergency centre, and water treatment plant, among others. #1126.25
