‘Absence Of Foreign Airlines’ll Affect National Economy’

A former member of the House of Representatives for Asari-Toru Federal Constituiency, Dr. Dawari George, has said that the plans by foreign airlines to stop operations at the Abuja International airport, will affect the economy of the nation.
He said that these airlines like the British Airways, Air France among others whose major operations in Nigeria are based in Lagos and Abuja, have taken a position that they will not operate in the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja if the Federal Government goes on to close the airport for maintenance of the runway.
George who made this known while interacting with airport correspondents at the Port Harcourt International airport, Omagwa last Tuesday said that if these airlines temporarily withdraw their operations, the revenue the Federal Government will derive from their operations will be lost.
He said that the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and other parastatals in the aviation sector generate much revenue for the government, even from these foreign airlines.
According to him, the Abuja International Airport is a very busy airport in Nigeria where most of these foreign airlines operate, and pay revenue to government.
The former lawmaker also noted that these airlines had asked the Federal Government not to close down the Abuja airport, even though the “Emirates” airlines had complained that they lost three of their navigational aids due to bad run-way.
For him, the best option for the Federal Government would have been to go ahead to construct a new runway at the airport, instead of closing down the entire airport for the sake of repairing the old runway, which will affect business generally in the nation’s capital.

Corlins Walter