The federal government yesterday beat the proposed deadline of April 19 when it reopened the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja runway a day earlier to the proposed date.The airport terminal, which was scheduled to open today received two aircrafts yesterday after the federal government decided to reopen it before the scheduled date, having concluded the work ahead of time.Normal business activities commenced at the Abuja airport after six weeks of rehabilitation, even as the Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika, and Ethiopian Airlines landed at the newly reconstructed runway.Sirika who landed first on the runway from Kaduna Airport on an aircraft with registration number 5N-HAR belonging to the Nigeria Police Force said there was no need to celebrate such achievement.He appealed to Nigerians not to celebrate the reopening of the airport runway because the April 19 deadline was just a target that the aviation ministry set for itself.Sirika said, We are not celebrating because we set out a target and we meet the target. There is no need to celebrate. April 19 was the due date to conclude and open the airport based on our programme of work but we were able to deliver the project earlier than anticipated. So, we cannot open late. There is nothing wrong in opening it a day earlier. Here we are; we set out to achieve a target and we achieved the target.We thank Allah for His benevolence. We are happy and thank Mr. President, His Excellency for his support, guidance and leadership. And I also want to thank my colleagues who did it all: the media and the Nigeria people for bearing with us during the time of the closure.The runway has been completed and it is in perfect shape. I just landed now on the same runway. Final exercise, the friction test was carried out this morning and they found out that it meets the International Civil Aviation Organisations (ICAO) Standard and Recommended Practices (SARPs). So, the runway is good and perfect.Ethiopian Airlines Dedicates New Aircraft To Abuja AirportMeanwhile, coinciding with the reopening of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport yesterday, Africas largest airline group, Ethiopian Airlines, has for the first time launched a dedicated flight to Abuja.The airline said the state- of- the- art airplane and the most modern in the world, Airbus A350-900, would commence scheduled service on its Addis Ababa-Abuja route.Ethiopian Airlines Group CEO, Mr Tewolde GebreMariam, stated at the launch that Ethiopian Airlines has a long history with Nigeria, which explains why it had always given its best to the country at all times, both at good and challenging times, just as it has been part of Nigerias historic growth.He said, The A350 is yet one of the landmarks in our 70 years proud history, providing exceptional levels of luxury and reliability for a totally unique passenger experience. Hence, with the reopening of Abuja Airport, the extra features of our game changing fleet, Airbus A350, will be waiting for our esteemed Nigerian travellers. We shall continue to avail critical air connectivity options and connect African countries together and far beyond.Passengers aboard the flight would enjoy the extra features of this latest flying machine: amazing cabin interior features with the latest high-definition touchscreen, personal monitors with a higher selection of movies, wider seats and windows, the lowest twin engine noise level, advanced air conditioning technology and full LED mood lighting.On his part, the airlines traffic and sales manager, Firiehiwot Mekonnen, said the launch of the new dedicated airbus was a demonstration of the airlines commitment to give the best to its esteemed Customers in Nigeria.She also disclosed that as part of the airlines aggressive expansion plans, it would be adding one new aircraft to its ever bourgeoning fleet for the next 36 months.She said the airline was not fazed by the challenges in the industry, adding that the aircraft had already been paid for and the airline was only awaiting delivery.The move, she maintained, was to keep pace with the competition as a pan African airline and to ensure that the airlines customers got the best in terms of service and quality delivery.We are expanding every day, we are always on the move, our customers can only expect the best from us, she noted.Mekonnen further revealed that the airline was already ahead of the competition, as it is on top of realizing its 15-year strategic plan called Vision 2025 that would see it become the leading aviation group in Africa, with seven business centers.Ethiopian Airlines currently operates 20 weekly flights to four Nigerian cities namely Lagos, Abuja, Enugu and Kano, offering hassle-free connectivity to its worldwide network spread in five continents.PMB Commends Reopening Of AirportMeanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday commended the efforts of all stakeholders on the successful completion of work and the reopening of Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, 24 hours ahead of the time limit.In a statement by his special adviser on media, Femi Adesina, the president said that he was looking forward to such display of inter-agency cooperation and efficiency in the operation of the entire federal government machinery.He specifically thanked the Ministries of Transport, Power, Works and Housing, security agencies, Kaduna State government and the contractor, Julius Berger.President Buhari also thanked Ethiopian Airlines for cooperating with the Nigerian government during the period of the closure of Abuja airport, describing it as a good example of intra-African cooperation.Medview, Air Peace, Dana, Others Resume Flights To Abuja TodayAs the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja reopens to air traffic, most domestic airlines, including Medview, Air Peace, Dana amongst others have concluded arrangements to resume flight operations.Medview Airline, a leading domestic carrier yesterday released a schedule with six daily flights to the nations capital. The airline had on March 9, 2019 diverted all its flights to Kaduna, following the closure of the Abuja airport for rehabilitation.In a statement by the chief operating officer, Engineer Lookman Animashaun, the airline said beside the six daily flights, the flights to Yola, Kano and Maiduguri will now be routed through Abuja, which had been the practice.Animashaun also noted that the closure of the Abuja airport brought out the potentials of Kaduna International Airport, making the airline to operate daily flight as against the three weekly flights before the boom.Kaduna has a lot of potentials; hence we decided to maintain daily presence there, the COO said.The airline commended the federal government for the extensive work carried out to improve the Kaduna International Airport.Similarly, Air Peace has also announced the resumption of all its flights into and out of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, starting from today.A statement issued by the carriers corporate communications manager, Mr. Chris Iwarah, yesterday also commended air travelers for keeping faith with the airline and making a huge sacrifice to ensure repair of the bad portions of the runway of the Abuja airport.The airline also praised the federal government and the minister of State for Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika for ensuring speedy completion of the repair work on the runway of the facility.Iwarah said, We are pleased to announce resumption of all our flights into and out of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport with effect from Wednesday, April 19. The Federal Government shut the facility to traffic on March 8 to enable a six-week repair of its runway and diverted all Abuja-bound flights to the Kaduna International Airport.We considered the decision of the Federal Government to shut down the airport for quick repair of its runway in tandem with the high safety standards of our flight operations. At Air Peace, the safety our esteemed guests is our first rule of business. We do not compromise on that for any reason.Although the decision to shut the facility to traffic came with huge costs, for us, nothing compares with safety. We are also aware that our numerous guests and the entire travelling public had to make a lot of sacrifice to enable the repair of the runway possible and wish to commend them for their understanding and cooperation.Dana Air will also join the fray as the airline has concluded arrangements to commence Abuja route today.Confirming their readiness for the Abuja flight resumption, the communications and media manager of Dana Air, Kingsley Ezenwa, told LEADERSHIP on phone yesterday that the airline was ready to return to the route come Wednesday.
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