Nigeria to commission new terminal in Lagos Airport February

Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, Managing Director, Captain Rabiu Yadudu has said that the new terminal at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport,MMA , Lagos, currently under construction by the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) will be commissioned in February 2021. Captain Yadudu who disclosed this when the House Committee on Aviation visited the agency’s facilities at the Lagos Airport as part of its oversight function, also said in a bid to optimise its revenue generation, collection, reduce cost and promote efficiency,  FAAN  has promoted cashless policy and plugged some loopholes in the system.

According to the FAAN boss, the terminal would have been completed this December, but the emergence of Covid-19 pandemic slowed down its completion. The terminal was one of the four terminals the Federal Government embarked upon in 2013 with completion date set for 24 months. The Chinese company  sourced about $500 million for the construction of the four new terminals in Lagos, Port Harcourt, Kano and Abuja with counterpart funding of $100 million by the Federal Government He further revealed that the agency has taken some critical steps to improve revenue generation and curb spending in recent months by suspending the “procurement of non- essential items, reduction in all staff related cost to the barest minimum and aggressive debt recovery drive, which  was hampered by the Covid-19 pandemic”.

Other steps taken, according to him, are “plugging of revenue loopholes, cash and fly policy, promotion and enforcement of cashless policy and the continuous strengthening of Business and Operational Excellence by improving on people, processes, platforms and performances”. In keeping with our vision and mission, we have strategically positioned ourselves to ensure that we have modern and up-to-date high-tech equipment and facilities that will aid better security, safety and comfort of all stakeholders. I will like to say that aviation business is a global, technical and highly regulated with huge infrastructure requirements; furthermore, it is necessary to reiterate that aviation business is driven by volumes and turnaround with operating profit margin of between 2.5 per cent to 5 per cent. Without the required volumes and traffic, it will be difficult to breakeven. The aviation agencies will urgently need intervention fund from the Federal Government to address infrastructural gaps and position the industry for better service delivery and contribution to the national economy.”

Responding, Mr. Nnolim Nnaji, the Chairman, House Committee on Aviation, praised FAAN for steps taken so far to improve services for airlines, air travellers and other users of the airports nationwide. Nnaji said: “The worst we had was the Covid-19 pandemic. We are happy that the industry is coming back. As you can see, a lot of things were abandoned because of lots of things and now, contractors are coming back to site.

“Last year, we noticed that there was no connection between the old and the new terminal, but today, as you can see, they have done the connection. What the Managing Director of FAAN said is that by February 2021, they will open up the corridor for passengers to use. We are impressed with FAAN. Last year, there was no apron like this, but this year, we now have it. It goes to show that FAAN is working and moving forward. We are happy with FAAN and we are ready to support the industry to move forward,” he added.