Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA) in Abuja, Nigeria, has opened its new international passenger terminal, with Asky Airlines the first airline to move into the facility.
According to Saleh Dunoma, managing director of Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), the new terminal will better meet passenger expectations, offering a much higher level of “safety, passenger facilitation and comfort” compared to the old terminal and more international airlines are expected to move to the new facility in the coming months.
Commenting on the opening, Sani Mahmud, regional general manager, North Central, FAAN and airport manager at NAIA, said, “We thank god for making it possible that we were able to commence flight operations in the new terminal of the NAIA, which was commissioned on December 20, 2018, by President Muhammadu Buhari. We sincerely appreciate all the stakeholders that made this possible and as you can see, all the agencies are on ground for international operations.
“We want to assure Nigerians and the world that this terminal will be maintained beautifully because we have a very good strong team in this airport. This is the same team that certified this airport in 2017, won the best improved airport in safety in 2018 and also won the airport manager of the year back to back in 2017 and 2018,” Mahmud added.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the terminal is one of the four international terminals being constructed by the China Civil Engineering and Construction Corporation (CCECC) – the others are in Lagos, Kano and Port Harcourt.
The project cost US$600m (£470m) and was funded by a US$500m (£392m) loan from the Export-Import Bank of China (China EXIM Bank) and US$100m (£78m) from the Nigerian government.