19 airports may go on concession, says Keyamo
Federal Government is considering the concession of 19 Nigerian airports among other options for economic viability, the Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo, SAN made this known in an interview with our correspondent in Abuja.
Saturday PUNCH reports that The Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, Olubunmi Kuku, has stated that only three out of 22 airports under its management are profitable and contribute largely to the growth of the aviation sector.
Kuku, who was a guest on the Channels TV morning show on recently said that 19 of the nation’s airports under FAAN were being subsidised as they do not get passenger traffic commensurate to their operational cost.
She further said that the majority of the 22 airports managed by FAAN require maintenance and upgrades in critical infrastructure like the terminal areas, the landside as well as the airside.
The revelation by the FAAN MD tallies with findings by Saturday PUNCH that only four out of over 30 airports in the country are economically viable, contributing N5.57tn to foreign trade in 51 months.
The four airports, which include Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Muritala Mohammed Airport, Kano and Port Harcourt, contributed a sum of N529.68bn in total exports and N5.05tn in imports between January 2020 and March 2024.
These statistics indicate that most airports are not economically viable to support foreign trade despite plans by various state governments to commence construction of airports purportedly to attract trade.
In the interview, the FAAN MD mentioned that the authority plans to provide cross-subsidies to certain new airports under development.
Speaking with our correspondent on the plans to improve the viability of these Airports, Keyamo said, “We are exploring different options, including concessions, to make them viable.”
