Chairman of the coordinating committee on Abuja relocation, Mohammed Joji, has said that the Kaduna airport is fully ready for heavy commercial use.
Speaking to reporters in Kaduna, after an inspection tour of the facilities on ground at the airport, the committee chairman, who is also secretary general of aircraft operators in Nigeria, said that he was satisfied at what he observed.
“All the equipment were tested and are doing fine. As far as I am concerned, I am comfortable with this one, we are happy about it,” he told newsmen.
He noted that a lot of changes have taken place at the airport and modern equipment have been installed in line with international best standard.Some of the changes he pointed out include the lighting system, distance measuring equipment, solar power, among other vital facilities.
Also speaking to journalists, Alkali Usman, an assistant inspector general of police, said that various measures have been put in place to boost security at the airport as well as along the Kaduna-Abuja expressway,assuring that all was set for the proposed diversion of flight operations from Abuja to Kaduna.
Usman said: “Our level of deployment on the road has been assessed and we have earmarked where we will cover in terms of patrol.“We have also made arrangement to protect the airport and equipment,building and everywhere.
“We have also ensured that all hotels and places of interest are protected and guarded, and we are going to increase patrol visibility.”
Recall that the Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika had announced that the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, will be closed down for six weeks in order for repair works to be carried out on the airport’s runway which is in a very bad condition.
The closure is expected to happen in March this year and for the six-week duration, all Abuja-bound flights will be diverted to the Kaduna Airport,and passengers will be conveyed either by road or by rail to Abuja.
The arrangement has been a major source of controversy as many big airline operators have said that they would not fly into the Kaduna Airport.