The Federal Government has said the new terminal of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, will be completed and put to use by the first quarter of 2019.
The Minister of State for Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, who stated this at a stakeholders’ meeting in Abuja, said the terminal would be delivered before the general elections in February.
“Lagos airport terminal will run into next year. Hopefully, we will deliver it before the elections,” he said.
The Federal Government envisages that the new terminal, upon completion, will help to ease passengers’ facilitation at the airport as well as increase passengers’ volume.
The terminal was to have become functional since 2016 but the opening date had been postponed several times.
The minister said following the completion and opening of the terminal, the issue of the power outage at the airport would also be addressed.
“We will address the problem of electricity at the airport very soon by changing all the cables. Some of those cables have been in use since 1979 and have outlived their lifespan,” he added.
The General Manager, Corporate Affairs, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, Mrs Henrietta Yakubu, had told our correspondent that the opening of the new MMIA terminal would give room for the rehabilitation of the old terminal.
“The old terminal has two wings; so when the new one opens, one wing will be shut down for repairs while airlines will operate from the other. Upon completion, the second wing will be shut down and operators will move to the renovated wing to give room for a total refurbishment of the other. While the new terminal is operating, the old one will also be fully operational after the refurbishment,” she said.
Yakubu added that some airlines would remain at the old terminal.
Sirika also stated that the new terminal at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, would be completed in the next four weeks.
He stated that the new terminals in Kano and Enugu were at advanced stages of completion and would soon be put to use.
The minister said that apart from remodelling the airports, aviation security personnel, also known as AVSEC, would soon begin to bear arms to enable them to secure the airports more effectively.
“You must be secure before you will need new terminals, chillers or convey belts at the airports,” he added.
