Airport Reporters

Air Peace launches Kano, Yola flights Feb 12, 15 Air Peace has announced plans to launch its Kano and Yola services on February 12 and 15 respectively. The services, the airline said, will cover Lagos-Kano-Lagos, Kano-Abuja-Kano, Lagos-Yola-Lagos and Abuja-Yola-Abuja. The carrier had earlier fixed February 19 for commencement of its flights from Lagos to Freetown in Sierra Leone, Banjul in The Gambia and Dakar in Senegal. With the addition of Kano and Yola, the airline will be  launching five new routes in February alone. Air Peace, which also plans to start its flights to Dubai, London, Guangzhou-China, Houston, Mumbai  and Johannesburg this year, said it would operate both morning and evening flights from Lagos to Kano. A statement issued by the carrier ’s Corporate Communications Manager, Mr. Chris Iwarah said the new routes were a confirmation of the seriousness of its pledge to connect many domestic, regional and international destinations this yea...

MMA2: Babalakin laments misconceptions sold to Nigerians by FAAN By Steve Omolale  The recent intervention by the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) has raised the hope of an early resolution of the controversial issues surrounding the first successful, privately-funded Design, Build, Operate and Transfer (DBOT) airport terminal in Nigeria, the Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal Two, popularly called MMA2, operated by Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL), a member of the Resort Group. The intervention, led by the Acting Director-General of ICRC, Mr. Chidi Izuwah, brought the managements of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and BASL together under the same roof, where both listed the areas of disagreements in the MMA2 concession agreement inked by both parties in 2003.   Although tempers rose occasionally at the meeting, Iwuzah tactfully brought the situation under control, saying “we are not here to figh...

New Port Harcourt airport terminal to be completed by July Minister of State for Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, on Tuesday said the New Port Harcourt Airport International Terminal would be completed in July.  Sirika also disclosed that the Federal Government may legally terminate the contract for the remodelling of the domestic terminal of the airport due to the slow pace of construction by the contractor.   Sirika made this known during a working visit to the airport to inspect ongoing projects and state of facilities.  The minister expressed satisfaction with the pace of construction at the international terminal being handled by the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation Nigeria Limited.  He said :"This is a normal routine visit for inspection of the projects we have been executing over time by the government.  "This is a very important project for government and we are here to see the progress of work and to see ...

FAAN URGES ICRC TO CORRECT ANOMALIES IN MMA 2 CONCESSION By Kelvin Osa Okunbor  The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria has urged the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) to correct the anomalies associated with the BOT agreement between Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited, operators of the Murtala Muhammed Airport 2 (MMA 2) and the Authority. FAAN disclosed this in a statement signed yesterday by its General Manager, Public Affairs, Mrs Henrietta Yakubu . According to the statement, FAAN's call came on the heels of a mediatory visit by Mr. Chidi Iwuzah, the Acting Director General of ICRC to both parties r to iron out grey areas in the contractual agreement in the interest of the nation. The BOT agreement granted Messrs Bi Courtney Limited was for the design, financing, construction and management of a domestic terminal building at the Murtala Muhammed Airport. She said the concession premises is limited to the dom...

Airline operators, rejects Nigeria's endorsement of African open skies   By Kelvin Osa Okunbor Airline operators yesterday rejected Nigeria's endorsement for the implementation of Africa open skies policy.  They also said they were not carried along in the discussions leading to the endorsement of the air pact which is intending to shortchange the industry.  The airlines operators said there is no level playing field where Nigeria can compete with other African carriers, which still enjoy some protectionism. Open skies is a flagship project of the African Union Agenda 2063, an initiative of the AU, to create a single unified air transport market in Africa, the liberalisation of civil aviation in Africa and as an impetus to the Continent’s economic integration agenda. Speaking during a sensitization workshop on the implementation of Single Africa Air Transport Market (SAATM), Nogie Meggison, president of the Airline Ope...

Air Peace fixes Feb 19 for Freetown, Banjul, Dakar launch By Kelvin Osa Okunbor  Air Peace has announced a new date for the launch of its flights from Lagos to Freetown in Sierra Leone, Banjul in The Gambia and Dakar in Senegal. The airline said it will now connect the three West Coast destinations on February 19. The airline had fixed the launch of its flights to Freetown, Banjul and Dakar for December 15, 2017. The launch was, however, suspended at the last minute due to the industrial unrest by air traffic control (ATC) in Dakar. The carrier had pledged to announce a new date for the launch when it was certain that the industrial action in Dakar, a critical connection in its route plan, had been fully resolved to avoid its guests being put through a strain.  A statement issued by Air Peace Corporate Communications Manager, Mr. Chris Iwarah on Tuesday said the new destinations would now join its route network on February 19. The routes, the statement said, w...

MMA2: ICRC hails Bi-Courtney, pledges to resolve concession issues   The Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) has commended the management of Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL), a member of the Resort Group, for the effective way it has operated the Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal Two (MMA2) in the last 10 years despite all the challenges surrounding the concession of the terminal. The Acting Director-General of ICRC, Mr. Chidi Iwuzah, during a monitoring visit to MMA2 yesterday, further praised BASL “for the efforts made so far in ensuring the terminal lives up to its status as a model PPP (Public Private Partnership) aviation terminal. We therefore want to encourage you to continue to do more and ensure efficient service delivery to Nigerians and foreigners alike”.      Besides, Izuwah, who led a team of ICRC officials on the tour, vowed that the commission would resolve all the issues surrounding the MMA2 concession between t...