It
is the gateway to Nigeria's capital and seat of government. It is a
vital resource for public officials, VIPs, and business travelers. Read more after the cut....
Abuja's Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport handled almost 5,000
domestic flights in December alone, making it the second busiest airport
in the country. But it will shut down for six weeks from Wednesday,
March 8.
The shutdown is expected to cause severe
disruption. But the decision has been forced by the increasingly
decrepit and dangerous condition of the airport's sole runway, which has
ruptured in several places.
"The
runway was designed for 20 years, but it has been in use for 34," says
Henrietta Yakubu, general manager of corporate affairs at the Federal
Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN). "It has decayed so much that there
is a need to shut down the airport for complete rehabilitation."
During the closure, flights will be re-routed to the much smaller Kaduna airport around 200 kilometers north.
"The effects of the closure will impact
negatively on business not just in Abuja but the country as a whole,"
says Tony Ejinkeonye, president of the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and
Industry. "Primarily, the hotels and businesses that depend on visitors
will have to scale down or shut down their operations."
"Business
visitors have either postponed or canceled visits. In an economy that
has recorded negative growth, this is a decision that was taken at a
wrong time. The closure will be for six weeks, but it will take more
like a year for businesses to recover from the effect of the closure."
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