Int’l Flights operations: NCAA gives Akanu Ibiam Airport, Enugu 58 conditions.

Respite may be long in coming for southeasterners who are waiting for international flight operations to resume at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu. Drumnewsonline scooped that the aviation regulators, Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA has recently slammed a 58-point document on the airport insisting that the conditions itemised must be met before international flights would resume at the airport. Some of the demands of the aviation authority is seen by some close watchers in the aviation sector as mere man-made obstacles, politically contrived to deprive the airport from conducting international flights and opening the southeast to the world.

According to a source who works at the airport and does not want his name in print, some of the conditions listed are some of the things already provided as well as ‘weird ones’. They demand among other things, relocating the refuse disposal site at the airport to about 13 kilometers away; marking the car park in such a way that vehicles would not be close to each other ‘in line with the social distancing rule’ to check covid-19 spread, which he described as making the car park operate less than 50% of its capacity; inscription of signs at the airport; provision of new firefighting equipment which according to him, a new one had been procured among others.

 According to the source most of the conditions listed, though superfluous, would have been possibly met with ease at the newly constructed terminal building which is 65% completed and not the old terminal building which recently underwent renovation and had not been completed as it should be. ‘I think there is more to the demands”, he quipped in despair. ‘I personally think that it is a deliberate plan to deny the southeast an international airport bearing in mind the situation in the country now”, he said. He wondered if all these eleventh hour demands were met by the Kano Airport before international flights resumed there.

“The body language of the government shows that they are not in a hurry to open up the southeast to the world. Why all these obstacles now? Was this airport not conducting international flights before now? What is the essence of all the billions expended in the renovation and upgrading of the airport if we are still having these narratives now?”, the source asked in anger.

 It would be recalled that the airport was slated to resume international flights May 5th, 2021 but for inexplicable reasons, that date was cancelled by the Federal Government. However, the other airports, Aminu Kano Airport, Kano and Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa, Port Harcourt, all of whom were packaged and slated for resumption of international flights same period, had long resumed operations.

 Just last week it was reported in the media that the Chairman of the House Committee on Aviation, Hon. Nnolim Nnaji said that international flights at Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu would resume on the 29th of July, 2021, however, the date came and passed without any sign of its accomplishment. No statement from the Aviation ministry or the NCAA to that effect. Even the southeast governors that showed commitment during the renovation and upgrading of the airport, have all gone dumb on the airport issue. The waiting game continues.

Source; Drumnewsonline

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