Foreign airlines shun Nigeria over airport closure
Print Edition
INTERNATIONAL airlines are refusing to fly to an alternative hub when the only airport serving Nigeria’s capital shuts down, forcing travelers to make lengthy detours at extra cost.
Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja closes completely for runway repairs on March 8. Domestic and international flights will be diverted to Kaduna, 170 kilometers away.
Nigeria’s aviation ministry has said the planned six weeks of resurfacing work were needed because the runway, which was built in 1982 with a 20-year lifespan, was “dilapidated” and “unsafe.”
There have been several reports that potholes have damaged aircraft, prompting one international carrier to cancel its flights on the route.
But Lufthansa, Air France and South African Airways have all said they will not re-route their flights to Abuja from Frankfurt, Paris and Johannesburg, to Kaduna or elsewhere in Nigeria.
British Airways and Turkish Airlines have not made a decision. But they look likely to follow suit as both have suspended ticket sales for Abuja flights during the closure.
Malte Liewerscheidt, senior Africa analyst with the Verisk Maplecroft global risk consultancy, said the closure of the capital’s airport was “highly symbolic.”
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, is in recession and d battling high inflation and a weak currency that have deterred overseas investors.
“You have a government that doesn’t even keep the airport to its capital open.
“What does that say?” he said. “This raises a whole lot of questions for investors about the assets of the Nigerian government.”
Kaduna airport manager Amina Ozi Salami maintained the runway was “100 percent better” than in Abuja.
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