AVIATION: MMIA WILL BE COMPLETED BEFORE THE END OF MY TENURE, SAYS KEYAMO 06-10-23
By Sadiq Aminu The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr. Festus Keyamo has expressed his committed towards ensuring an overhaul of the old Terminal of the Mutala Muhammed International airport, Lagos before the end of his administration.
The Minister also directed that a meeting be held with contractors handling the airport on issues of substandard equipment and the possibility of opening up other entry points into the airport including the expansion of their work schedule which was part of the PPP agreement.
He insisted that having a Master plan would eradicate wastage and encourage concessioners making the airports a hub and that the Master plan would take into consideration existing structures while renovation on the old terminal would not be disrupted.
He gave the indications when he received the report of the Task force on the relocation of foreign airlines from the Old International Terminal to the new Terminal in Abuja.
Mr. Keyamo pointed out that the Lagos airport account for sixty percent of entry point and exit into Nigeria and that of all the five international airports in the Country, the old terminal of the Mutala Muhammed airport had been in a state of disrepair.
He said that the fire incident of the 6th of September, 2023 necessitated the hasty relocation of all airlines from the old terminal which generated public outcry and gave an assurance that adequate measures would be put in place to avert future occurrence.
Team leader of the Task force, Mr. Hassan Musa, said part of the findings showed that the fire incident compounded the challenges existing since operations in April 2022.
He also said that some equipment installed at Terminal 2 do not meet the international standard equipment for international airports and that there were no adequate entrance and exits to Terminal 2 to meet international standard requirements.