Airports Concessioning’ll Improve Efficiency – Minister

The Minister of State for
aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika has said that concessioning the nation’s airports to private investors would go a long way to achieve better infrastructural development and improve the efficiency and service delivery at the airports.
The minister who stated this while speaking to newsmen in Abuja on the vision of the present administration for the aviation sector, said that government planned to concession four major airports to the private sector.
The airports, according to him to be a concessioned includes, the international airports in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Kano.
Sirika said that some of the challenges facing the country’s airports were that of obsolete equipment, dilapidated infrastructure, as well as inadequate capacity.
These challenges he said were expected to be addressed by the newly initiated concession programmes, and completion of five new, world class, ultra-modern airport terminals in Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Enugu and Port Harcourt later this year.
“The present administration is focusing on issues that will rapidly develop the aviation industry within the shortest possible time.
“These issues include aviation safety and security, infrastructural development, the establishment of a national carrier, lack of a world class aircraft maintenance, repair, and overhaul facility in the country”, he said.
Other issues the administration is looking into he said, is how to quickly develop our air cargo capacity in order to participate actively in multi billion dollars global agro-allied export trade and that an aerospace university will also be established in the country.