Ogun State Government has assured that the state-owned Gateway Agro-cargo airport will begin operations at the end of 2022.
The Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Abdulwaheed Odusile, who disclosed this while briefing aviation journalists at the site of the airport, said it would be an international airport in all ramifications.
Daily Trust reports that the airport project was conceived under the administration of Governor Gbenga Daniel but now being implemented by the Dapo Abiodun administration.
The airport located in Iperu community in Ikenne Local Government Area of the state is sited on 5000 hectares of land and has a 4-kilometer runway which is almost completed.
In addition, the control tower for the air traffic control system is a five-storey building.
The commissioner, who was joined by the state Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Ade Akinsanya as well as officials of Craneburg Construction, said the three major components of the airport comprising the runway, fire station and control tower are on the verge of completion.
Odusile said, “By the grace of God, aircraft will take-off and land on this airport and this airport will be the fastest constructed airport in Nigeria and maybe Africa.”
According to the commissioner, the airport will be an international testing center for goods ready to be exported and this will eliminate issues of produce not being up to standard after leaving the shores of the country.
The commissioner also stated that agencies like the Nigerian Airforce, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), among others are already showing interest in the airport.
He added that the Governor is obsessed with industrializing Ogun State and the Airport is an important component of the transportation master plan included in the five pillars of the Development of the state called ISEYA (Infrastructure, Social Welfare, Education, Youth Empowerment and Agriculture)
The Commissioner for Works said the uniqueness of the airport is its accessibility as there are six locations to come in from such as Lagos, Ibadan, Ijebu Ode, Shagamu, among others.
He disclosed that the runway is about 90 percent completed, adding, “The runway has about four layers with different classes of MM. The layer is about 65mm of asphalt, the second layer is about 50mm of asphalt and the next is about 100mm of asphalt.”
“This airport can be compared to Morocco and Paris, it’s a class E airport which will be attracting a lot of private investors to come and develop it, but we will be providing the basic facilities,” he added.
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