₦712bn terminal project: Why Lagos Airport rebuilding is important – Keyamo

• He stated that the Lagos Airport does not have the needed facilities to process connecting flights, adding that this will be addressed by the rebuilding

The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has underscored the significance of the rebuilding and remodelling of Terminal One of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.

He stated that the ₦712 billion project is imperative because the airport terminal has become dilapidated, worn out, and other critical structures and components of the airport are falling apart.

Speaking when he appeared on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics programme, the senior advocate noted that the airport in its current state is far below contemporary aviation standards.

The minister said that without the rebuilding of the airport terminal, many foreign airlines would ditch the country’s route.

“Without this, some international airlines will threaten to stop flight to your country when you don’t have a good airport, a good runway, because it affects insurance because when the runways are not good, the terminals are good, the insurance will go up because they will say that place is not safe to fly to,” he said.

He stated that the Lagos Airport does not have the needed facilities to process connecting flights, adding that this will be addressed by the rebuilding and that upon completion, the terminal would compete with continental aviation hubs in Ethiopia, South Africa and other countries.

He said, “As it is today, you cannot land in Lagos (local airport) and try to connect to an international flight, maybe to Ghana

“Lagos is not a hub, but that was the plan in 1977 when it was designed and in 1979 when it was commissioned. You cannot process one passenger from one terminal to another, so that has stunted the growth of aviation.

“What we are trying to do in Lagos now is to make Lagos a very modern airport and create a proper hub to begin to compete with other hubs in Africa…So, we want to completely pull down Terminal One.

“It is not a refurbishment; we are tearing it down, only the pillars will remain, the carcass, the decking. Everything will go, and they are going to redesign now.”