Abuja Airport runway to be ready tomorrow

The Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja runway that is currently undergoing rehabilitation may be ready to resume flight by Monday, April 17, two days ahead of the deadline, National Daily has gathered.

Speaking on the works, Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Egnr. Saleh Dunoma, assured Nigerians of early completion of works.

“We will be ready April 17 but we are leaving the remaining two days for Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA). We have written to them and they will come by today (Sunday) to do the preliminary inspection.”

He maintained that with the work done, the April 19 deadline for the reopening of the airport is no longer in doubt. “All the critical items of work are 100 per cent except may be two items; which of course are the markings and the cleaning.”

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Engr. Dumoma disclosed that asphalt work is 100 per cent, adding that markings have reached almost 70 per cent and the airfield lighting system has reached 80 per cent,” Dunoma added.

According to him, the authority also used the opportunity provided by the closure of the airport to address other Airport Excellence in Safety (APEX) related items. ”We are now levelling all the airfield lightings’ locations, all the installations and flash with the ground surface.”

The FAAN boss further explained that the newly constructed runway does not need calibration because the previous Navigational Aids were not tampered with.

“The runway does not need calibration. All we need to check is to make sure there is 100 per cent illumination. Calibration is done periodically. When the time come for calibration, the appropriate authority will calibrate the Instrument Landing System (ILS),”he said.

The Abuja airport was shut on March 8 for six weeks to enable Julius Berger rebuild the 3.6 kilometre runway.

The runway, which was constructed in 1982 was meant to last for 20 years, but had been in use for 35 years without major repairs and maintenance.