Nigeria says ‘everything is ready’ for Abuja airport closure
LAGOS, Nigeria (AFP) — Nigeria’s transport minister Rotimi Amaechi said yesterday that “everything is ready” for the closure of the airport serving the capital Abuja, despite worries about limited capacity at the alternative hub.
Starting Wednesday, flights are being redirected from Abuja’s Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport to the northern city of Kaduna for at least six weeks.
But all international airlines serving the city except one — Ethiopian Airlines — are refusing to go along with the plan, and have cancelled their flights instead.
Passengers heading to and from Abuja will have to travel about 190 kilometres (120 miles) on a road where there have been a number of kidnappings, or take a train.
But speaking to AFP at the launch of a railway project in the commercial hub of Lagos, Amaechi said there was no cause for concern.
“We have set up the roads, the railway, the buses and everything is ready,” he said.
“There are no security issues. We have enough police, enough soldiers, enough air force,” he said.
He added that the airport closure would not last more than the planned six weeks.
The aviation ministry has said the airport needs work because the runway, which was built in 1982 with a 20-year lifespan, was “dilapidated” and “unsafe”.
