The planned closure of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja has been extended to March 8th, later than the previously scheduled date of Feb
The planned closure of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja has been extended to March 8th, later than the previously scheduled date of February, to enable government repair the airport’s runway. The repairs will be carried out by German company, Julius Berger. No reason was however given for the change of date. The decision to shut the airport for six weeks and divert Abuja-bound flights to Kaduna, an airport used primarily for domestic flights, was taken after airlines threatened to stop flying to the capital.
Analysts have said that the temporary closure of Abuja airport, the country’s second busiest after the commercial capital Lagos, will have a negative impact on Africa’s biggest economy, which fell into recession in 2016 for the first time in 25 years. Passengers travelling to Abuja will have to fly to Kaduna and travel in bus shuttles, guarded by security provided by the government, to the capital on a pot-holed road where kidnappings have taken place in the last few years. Kaduna’s international airport handled 12 flights in December 2015, the last month for which Nigeria’s airports authority has figures, compared with 812 that used Abuja International.
