The Federal Government may shut down Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu for the rehabilitation of the runway, to make it safe for air travellers.
The airport which is the only facility that services international flight operations in the South-east may be shut down the third time, if government finally decided that the comprehensive work needed to put the runway in the best shape is to be done.
Runway is a safety critical infrastructure, which must be in good condition for aircraft to operate but experts versed in runway engineering say that there could be other ways of reconstructing it without wholly closing the airport.
The airport serves many people who live in Anambra, Benue, Ebonyi, Enugu and Abia states. So, the closure will have major negative impact in the movement of the people, especially now travelling long distance by road is being discouraged due to insecurity.
“They are going to close the runway again. I can confirm that to you. What is worrying about it is that the governor of the state has shown a lot of commitment to that airport and closing it will constrict the state’s economic activities. That means that Nigerians will suffer again like the many times it was closed in the past for the same purpose.
“The runway breaking down now means that the quality of work done in the past is questionable; yet, so much money was voted for its rehabilitation. It doesn’t mean that they cannot use night time alone to repair it or close it on weekends; after all, runway at Gatwick Airport, London was rehabilitated recently but it was done in the night and it served flights during the day. But closing the airport is about our type of administrative system,” an insider who was head of aviation agency and witnessed the rehabilitation of the runway in 2019,” said informed sources.
In 2020 when the airport was reopened after the work on the runway, the former Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, assured that that remedial work would be carried out from time to time on the runway, so that the airport would not be closed again over the same issue.
“FAAN management has been given the mandate to ensure that periodic maintenance is carried out diligently so that we will not have to go through a painful experience of closure again. May I ask the government and people in this region to increase their commitment by using this airport to the fullest of its capacity? This airport will be placed in concession to ensure value for money,” the then Minister had said.
