Business
PH Airport Resumes Int’l Flight’, Morrow …Set For Dry Run Exercise
Ahead of the reopening of the international terminal of the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa, tomorrow, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) says it will conduct a ‘Dry-Run’ exercise at the international terminal, before the commencement of the international flight operations.
Making this known while interacting with The Tide on Monday, the acting head, Corporate Affairs of FAAN in Port Harcourt airport, Mr Kunle Akinbode, said the dry run exercise was necessary and key to the reopening of the terminal.
According to him, activities at the terminal have been grounded since the outbreak of COVID-19 and the eventual close down of the airport, last year.
He said that the dry run exercise which is billed to take place in the middle of the week, before the commencement of the normal flight operations, is to showcase the preparedness of FAAN in the handling of international passengers, based on international standards.
“In such exercise, we will show and demonstrate an arrival of an international flight, where all the personnel in every area in handling of flights will be on ground to show their skills and capacity.
“The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), which is the regulatory agency in aviation industry, will be there to monitor the exercise to see the level of preparedness of FAAN ahead of the reopening”, he stated.
Meanwhile, business operators within the international terminal whose businesses were affected by the shutdown have expressed happiness and readiness to resume operations at the international terminal of the airport.
An airport car hire services operator, Mr Clifford Wahunoro, while reacting to the development, expressed joy that the airport’s international terminal will soon be reopened.
According to him, it will afford car hire operators the opportunity to operate from the two terminals and also get direct international passengers who can give hard currencies to drivers.
Also, a security operative in the bomb squad, who would not want his name published, said that the full operation of the squad is needed most at the international terminal of the airport, explaining that the domestic terminal does not require much of their operations.
The Tide reports that the reopening of the international terminal of the airport is scheduled for tomorrow.
By: Corlins Walter