…as Ethiopian Airlines announces plans to fly to Kaduna
Thirteen days to the closure of the Nnamdi Azikiwe Internation Airport, Abuja, for runway repairs, anxiety, opportunities and expectations keep mounting.
These include the hope among international airlines and passengers, that the Federal Government will go back on its decision to have Kaduna as a first base option, where Abuja passengers will necessarily be dropped, then find their way by various means to Abuja. As at last night, however, that had not happened.
One of the opportunities is expected to manifest by way of helicopter companies taking advantage of the short-stop, to operate hops from Kaduna to Abuja and back. This, the helicopter companies have already positioned to do, at the cost of N60,000 per passenger, per hop. The helicopter companies poised for this operation include Bristow and AOS.
The lure is that many of the 6,000 air passengers who ply the Lagos-Abuja routes will opt for their services.
All international airlines flying into Abuja have refused to take the Federal Government’s fall back option of the Kaduna Airport, in the course of repairs of the Abuja run-way, which will last for six weeks.
This will leave a glut of international passengers who would have been carried direct to Abuja now piling up in Lagos.
Med-View Airlines which ordinarily does only two flights from Lagos to Kaduna, has stepped up operations one flight per day, to soak up the glut of passengers. Informed sources say some domestic carriers will likely follow suit.
Industry watchers say hotels and hospitality industries in Kaduna will see opportunities opening from the build-up of redirected passengers to that city.
Bernard Bankole, President, National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA) told BusinessDay yesterday, that,“Hotels in Kaduna are being refurbished to meet the expectations and the expected influx of passengers.
“This signals more job opportunities. I had a meeting with my members yesterday and I told them to look beyond the challenges and look at the opportunities. Since we are into travel and tourism, it is an opportunity for us to see what Kaduna has for us to offer.
“My members are already organising a retreat for travel agencies to go from Abuja to Kaduna to see what they have. It is when we see what they have that we can sell what they have. I like the spirit and development that I am seeing now,” Bankole added.
Meanwhile, Ethiopian Airlines has announced plans to operate into Kaduna, against the decision of all other international airlines flying into Nigeria. This brings some relief to passengers of that airline.
Ikechi Uko, spokesperson for the airline confirmed the development.
“I am very happy that Ethiopian Airlines has chosen to ply the Kaduna route. This shows that they have the interest of the Nigerian market at heart. I could not imagine the stress and challenge of having to take another flight from Lagos to Kaduna,” Anita Ume, a frequent traveller, told BusinessDay.
Henrietta Yakubu, acting general manager, corporate affairs, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, told BusinessDay that the Federal Government has deployed buses and security to the airport to carry out profiling, checks and other security related activities.
John Ojikutu, a security expert and the former Commandant of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, said the police and other armed forces will be challenged to build up patrol operations by road and possibly by helicopter from Kaduna to Abuja.
“We are preparing to make sure we meet set targets for March 8. We have effective cover for bigger aircraft that may start arriving from that date,” said Abubakar Shebe, manager of the Kaduna Airport fire department. .
The development will also present business opportunities for the newly upgraded Abuja-Kaduna railway system. The Kaduna railway system has airconditioned first class coaches which cost N1,500 per passenger. The rail schedules on daily basis are for 7.00am and 10.00am in the morning.
Some hospitality experts say one shortcomings of the Kaduna rail system is that it does not have internet services and that this would have been a big attraction, so that passengers could work on their laptops.
The experts add that another attraction would be for the train service to have guides who point out locations of interest along the route to passengers and tell them the history and heritage along the line.
The train service has the capacity for 320 passengers per trip.
An anonymous source at the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) told BusinessDay that more trains are expected to be injected into the Abuja-Kaduna corridor within the first quarter of the year as provided for in 2017 budget.
