The minister of state, Aviation, Capt. Hadi Sirika, has said the runways at the Kaduna International Airport and the Malam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAIA) Kano are in perfect condition to handle flight operations.
The minister stated this at the weekend while inspecting facilities at both airports. As part of the inspection tour, the minister also inspected facilities at the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria and Nigerian Meteorological Agency’s (NiMet) weather facility at Katsina.
The minister emphasised that the 3000 meters’ Kaduna Airport runway is capable of handling jumbo jets and B777s thus is capable of handling the traffic from the Abuja airport when the Abuja runway is closed on March 8th, 2017.
The minister also expressed confidence that the Kaduna Airport facilities will be fixed ahead the March 8.
“I have inspected the facilities and I must say that I am more than happy that Kaduna is ready for the task ahead. I have gone round, seen the provisions made, the Hajj terminal which is here for processing of passengers which we said will take up to 500 at a time and also another contingency plan that another VIP terminal could be converted in the event that they are more than 500 passengers at a time are ready.
“The original terminal building is in advanced stage of completion and it would be completed before that time,” he assured.
He said all the materials to fix the new terminal buildings have been procured thus all that is left is fixing and finishing.
“In case we are not able to finish the terminal building but from what we saw, everything is in place for the terminal building to be ready before the set date but just in case because we have made plans for redundant equipment, we are ready for eventuality but I can guarantee you that we will finish before the due date,” he said.
After inspecting the runway, he assured of the integrity of the runway and its capacity to handle large aircraft requiring long landing and takeoff.
On his impression on the new international terminal building in Kano, the minister expressed satisfaction with the quality of work done.
On the completion date, he said the contractors have not briefed him on the definite date of completion yet.
At NCAT, the minister pledged his support to the development of the premier aviation college in West Africa.
He said he had to cancel the proposal that NCAT be decentralised and promised that government will support it meet its accreditation needs.
Capt. Sirika also noted that any private investor wishing to establish an aviation training institution in Nigeria would be supported by the federal government.
