Standup9ja - Abuja airport runway for 18-week upgrade

Standup9ja - Abuja airport runway for 18-week upgrade

The Presidency has disclosed that the upgrade work on the runway of the Nnamdi

Azikiwe International Airport Abuja will continue for another 18 weeks.

A highly placed presidency official disclosed this in a statement made available to State House correspondents on Sunday.

The official, who pleaded anonymity, said the second phase of the upgrade work would be done at night to avoid disruption of flight schedules.

The Abuja Airport, shut down on March 8, 2017, is expected to be reopened on April 19.

The official hinted that a media tour to assess the progress on the Abuja Airport runway repair would hold this week.

"After the Abuja Airport reopens for operations on April 19, upgrade works on the runway will continue for another 18 weeks. This second phase of upgrade works on the runway will be carried out at night, with no disruption to flight schedules," the official said.

He said the latest report submitted to the Presidency by a federal government's committee overseeing showed that over 43,000 passengers passed through the Kaduna Airport in its first 11 days of operations as the alternative to the Abuja Airport.

He said that was more than the 41,000 passengers the Kaduna Airport recorded in the entire first quarter of 2015, and the 21,000 in the first quarter of 2016.

The official also stated that within this period, about 10,000 passengers took advantage of the free bus shuttle organised by the Federal Government to transport passengers between the Abuja and Kaduna Airports.