The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has described as unfortunate, what he called “hasty” relocation of foreign airlines from the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) old terminal to the new one in Lagos.
He, however, acknowledged that the fire incident that gutted the terminal in September made the relocation inevitable at the time, while assuring that the federal government was committed to overhauling the terminal.
Keyamo spoke when he received the report of the taskforce he set up to oversee the relocation of foreign airlines.
Daily Trust on Sunday reports that the relocation of foreign airlines came about a month after the directive from the minister, but majority of them refused to relocate over the size of the apron, which cannot accommodate bigger airplanes.
The sudden relocation of the airlines, however, came with serious inconveniences to passengers and even the operators, even as some airlines were forced to adjust their schedule.
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Keyamo, who received the report of the taskforce on Friday, according to the statement by the head of the Department of Press and Public Affairs in the ministry, Odutayo Oluseyi, noted that the Lagos airport accounted for 60 per cent of entry points and exit into Nigeria.