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By Chinelo Obogo
With less than 10 days to the end President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, there is uncertainty over the launch of the proposed national carrier, amid repeated assurances from the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, that the airline would fly before May 29.
Sirika had on several occasions, promised that the court case between the Airline Operators of Nigeria and Nigeria Air would not stop the launch of the airline on or before May 29.
But yesterday when asked by aviation reporters if the launch was still feasible, Sirika who was in Lagos to commission a N2.2billion expansion of the first phase of the General Aviation Terminal (GAT) said he won’t comment on the national carrier.
“I don’t want yo comment on Nigeria Air on whether or not it would take off before May 29. I came here to commission projects and that is what I am focused on,” he said.
He however defended some of his recent appointments made at the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) following criticism from industry stakeholders.
Sirika had appointed Tayib Odunowo, Director of Aerodrome And Airspace Standards at Nigerian NCAA as the new managing director of NAMA, replaces Mr. Matthew Pwajok, who had been in acting capacity for more than one year. He also appointed Mr. Kabir Mohammed as the new Managing Director for the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), taking over from Captain Rabiu Yadudu who was appointed May 20, 2019.
“The appointments were approved by President Muhammadu Buhari and it is an ongoing process. Government is a continuum, they have their timeline, they have when to come in and when to go. There is nothing wrong with it. This is governance and whatever decision is taken, is done on behalf of millions of Nigerians,” he said.
During the commissioning of the terminal, he said the capacity has increased from 254 to 1,024, after which he proceeded to commission the Cargo Terminal at the Murtala Muhammed Airport.
The GAT facility also comes with the complements of three departure halls, three VIP lounges, two protocol lounges, three lifts , four toilets, five office spaces, five staircases, amongst others.
The minister in his speech before the commissioning stressed that the project was conceived to address the decades-long limited capacity challenge of the terminal.
He said; “You will agree with me that the geometric increase in population of Nigeria, which resulted in increase in passenger volume has overwhelmed available facilities at this terminal and as part of efforts to address this challenge, the Federal Government at some point developed the Zulu terminal to complement the existing old terminal, but the capacity limitation situation still persisted.
“Oftentimes, particularly at peak periods, you will observe that facilities in this terminal are usually overstretched because the volume of passengers using the facilities far outweighs the capacity available.
“We therefore evaluated the situation, and decided to expand the terminal, as a short term measure to address the situation. It is our intention to build a new and much bigger domestic terminal in the nearest future.
“The facility we are commissioning today is a product of that thought, and it is only the first phase of the project. As soon as we put this to use, we hope that the incoming administration will continue with the construction of the second phase. As you will be seeing in due course, this facility contains brand new protocol lounges, airline office spaces, VIP lounges, with the complements of conveniences that will enhance safety, security and comfort of our esteemed passengers.
“The project started early last year, and I am glad that the first phase was completed in record time, and is being commissioned today.I am very confident that the provision of this facility will enhance passenger facilitation at this terminal, and will also improve the revenue generation of FAAN.”
