The International Terminal Manager, Maiduguri International Airport, Mr Ibrahim Bello has said that the airport is strategically positioned, with three border countries (Chad, Niger and Cameroon) for investment opportunities and international operations.
Bello told aviation correspondents that the facility upgrade of the airport, was to further strengthen cargo and airport operations owing to the rich agriculture heritage of the state and neighbouring states.
“Maiduguri is strategically situated; it has that strategic location advantage that airlines can take advantage of. It is the only airport that has borders with three countries, that is Chad, Cameroon and Niger, which is a very, very good opportunity for us and Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to explore regional operations.
“We can have it, it has the strategic advantage more than any other airport in the country, which gives us an edge. So, at FAAN, this is what we are looking at, at the local level, and we are taking it up with our headquarters, to see how we can harness this opportunity.
“The infrastructural upgrade, especially the terminal extension came up when the Governor saw the need to collaborate with the FAAN, and the Federal Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development to upgrade the airport. So, he went to see the Minister, Mr Festus Keyamo, SAN, after the meeting, the Minister came here with all the heads of agencies, FAAN, Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority and other aviation stakeholders. We took a facility tour of what is on ground here with the Minister and the State Government.
“Later we went to the Government House, we sat down, and so many things were brought out, what is on ground, what is not on ground, what needs to be upgraded, what needs to be provided and the Minister asked all the agencies, the heads of agencies, to come up with their plan for the upgrade.
“So, in particular, FAAN brought out its working plan. We will provide this, we will provide this in terms of equipment, in terms of facilities, in terms of manpower. And the Governor took it upon himself to do the structural work, the construction of the extension of the terminal.
“So, immediately, FAAN submitted the drawing of what it wanted the terminal to look like, and the drawing was adopted, generally, and immediately the State Government started work. And this work, the work took a little while and, thank God, we are seeing to its almost 90-something completion. So, FAAN, on its own side, has brought all the necessary equipment, as you can see.
Bello also spoke on the digital check-in counters and the passenger holding capacity: “I am sure you have taken the tour of what is on ground. We have checking counters here, which are digital. We are moving away from the analog counters as we have it in the old domestic terminal. So, these checking counters are digital. They have the weighing scale attached to it, so you don’t need to have the weighing scale separate and the counter separate. So, this one has modern checking counters provided by FAAN Management and the FAAN Management also provided the seating for the passenger seat.
“They also provided the screening machines. They also provided the belts, the conveyor belts and the carousel. All of them are on the ground right now. And some of them have been fixed. Some are still work ongoing. The upgraded facility here, the terminal, has a passenger holding capacity of close to 500, which is a very, very good lift from what we have already, which is close to less than 300 passengers.
“Yes, the passenger holding capacity of 500 is at once. So, if we have more than one airline operating, we don’t have any issue. We can have more than one airline, two, three, operating at the same time. We will not have any issue. Like in Maiduguri, we used to have four commercial scheduled flights. So, if we have those scheduled flights at the same time, we will not have any constraint in terms of facilities and equipment.”
According to the terminal manager, the airport records a strong non-scheduled flight operations following it’s strategic location, adding that with the upgrade, traffic is bound to improve.
“Maiduguri has non-scheduled operators, which are United Nations Humanitarian Air Services and World Food Programme. Then we have Doctors Without Borders. We have ICRC as well, International Community of Red Cross. They also schedule non-commercial flights. We have the helicopter services here, global helicopters. In a day, we will have like five helicopter movements. So, there is a lot of traffic in Maiduguri.
“Here is more like a hub, and the hub status is very, very strong that once the international operation starts, we may start with the regional flight, as I mentioned. We can have a regional hub, we can have N’Djamena, Cameroon, we can have Niger as well. These are border countries, bordering Nigeria through Maiduguri. So, this regional hub can be extended into international routes as well.
“We do our route, and we have been doing the route analysis for quite a while now, and it’s proven to be something that would work. Yes, so that is what we are looking at now. We can have a flight, maybe, Maiduguri and N’Djamena, we can extend it, maybe, to start from Kano, Kano, Maiduguri and N’Djamena, then Maiduguri-Kano.
“This is a well-established route, since Trans-Saharan trade. It can be reactivated. Before, it used to be a camel and a road, maybe, but now we can introduce the flight advantage as well. Not only N’Djamena, we can extend it to Central Africa, which is Bangui. That used to be the trade route in those days.”
Wooing airlines to the terminal and government security and border agencies that will man the international borders at this airport, Bello said: “We have one of our operators here that has shown interest. It has done its own route analysis. We have been talking about it for years. Even recently, one of them called me and we had some discussion. So, they too are at their own level, they are doing it, and we at the station level, we are doing it.
“We have a very good relationship with the agencies, Immigration, the Border Control, DSS, Customs, because, as I mentioned, the first time the minister came, all their representatives came as well. The immigration boss sent somebody, the Comptroller General also sent somebody. So, we sat down, we analysed what is on ground, and everybody went back and came up with their own implementation plan.
“The facilities are ready. For now, what we have is the domestic site. We are trying to push our domestic operation here. Then we made reconfiguration. Just a small reconfiguration of what we have on the other side, to accommodate the international operations.
On the cargo potential of the airport, Bello said: “There is a lot of cargo traffic here, in terms of livestock and foodstuff as well. As I mentioned, the trade routes from Maiduguri, N’Djamena, Cameroon, and Niger, there is a lot of cargo advantage there that can be enhanced. Just yesterday, somebody from the Ministry of Livestock came. We are having some discussions with them on how to make that possible.
“The state government has some reach outside the country. Both Yobe and Maiduguri have their own reach outside the country. They are talking to some investors to come and see the potential here. And also, a lot of cargo potentials are here, because we have very good land here in Maiduguri and Yobe. Not only that, this is the regional airport. It has Yola, Gombe, and Bauchi under it. These are all states that are blessed in terms of agricultural advantages.”
He assured of very good security layers at the airport; with the strike group, occupying our hajj terminal, Air Force facilities all around the airport, civilians and strong military and security presence
He noted that the runway, with the help of FAAN management, a lot was done to maintain the old runway which now looked very good.
