The minister of state on Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika said the Port Harcourt international airport project was funded through the China-Exim bank loan of $500m with a US $100m counterpart fund facility.
“At the time this administration came on board, the level of work was below 30% and bedeviled with various technical challenges which included foundation design change, inaccessibility to Apron, inadequate Apron space, master plan distortion, water and sewage provision, inadequate power supply.”
He said the Port Harcourt airport being the third busiest airport in Nigeria is very important to the Nigerian economy as it served 1,080,284 passengers in 2017 adding that the old terminal which is also under rehabilitation was unable to provide the requirements and space to handle such volume of passengers.
According to statistics, the new terminal has the capacity to process about 7 million passengers annually covering a space of approximately 28, 000m2.
“The terminal has 24 check-in counters, 3 baggage collection carousels, 12 immigration desk at arrival, 16 immigration desk at departure, 4 security screening points, 4 passenger Boarding Gates and a host of other facilities.”
He said Nigeria has affirmed to the world that the aviation industry is safe and secure, increasing the value of the airports.
Sirika said Nigeria needs to attract quality investment through Public Private Partnership so as to make the airports world class, profitable, efficient, comfortable safe, and secure for the travelling public.
He said this will assist Nigeria to develop into a regional air transport hub while remaining committed to ensuring that the industry is safe.
The Public Relations Officer of the corporation of FAAN, Mr Alfred Itua said the new international terminal started full operation two weeks ago and all facilities were in place to ensure a good flight experience for passengers, airlines and other stakeholders in the industry.
“The new international terminal is now separated from the domestic terminal to cater for all. We have toilets that accommodate the need of the disabled. There are shops here that are yet to be taken; we are expecting more airlines to key into the project”
He said the domestic terminal has also been moved from the tent to a terminal that is more spacious, colourful and convenient.
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