The Federal government is making necessary efforts at attracting and renewing investors’ interests in the aviation sector, Saleh Dunoma, managing director of Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), has said.
He also said new opportunities and employment will be created after the massive reconstruction and upgrade of airport Terminals across the 22 federal government owned airports across the country.
Speaking at the 2nd Airport Business Summit and Expo in Abuja, Dunoma said the management of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria has put in place, the necessary commercial offerings which has resulted in renewed interest by investors in the sector.
“The Federal Government of Nigeria as the primary investor in Nigeria’s 23 airports is gradually opening doors for genuine private investors to partner and work with the Government to explore the various opportunities in the sector”.
He explained that beyond improving operational efficiency and passenger facilitation, the new terminal facilities when completed will bring up opportunities for more investments to make the airports more user friendly and offer passengers a whole new travel experience in line with international standards and practices.
The FAAN boss delivering a paper on‘Terminal Expansion: Key to maintaining high standards of operational efficiency and improved airport users experience”, said “stakeholder and partners in airport services delivery including; the airlines, handling companies, retailers, contractors etc, have aligned with this objectives through periodic training and sensitization seminars to maintain the same customer centric service standards”.
He added that the International Air Transport Association (IATA) 20-year passenger growth forecast projects that passenger numbers are expected to reach 7.3 billion by 2034 which represented a 4.1% average annual growth in demand for air connectivity, stressing that African airports rated amongst the fastest-growing markets will benefit from this growth and thus Nigerian airports are therefore expanding their user handling capacity both in aeronautics and non aeronautics services.
Speaking on the summit, the organizer of the Airport Business Summit, Mr. Fortune Idu said the event presents the aviation industry from the airport perspective and links it to the development of cities and regional economies.
He added that the summit is a multi-sector summit with delegates expected to come from industries with direct and indirect dealings with the airport, such as airlines, retail, security, safety, technologists, media, taxi companies, hotels, tourist attraction companies, etc.
“The summit expo will help Airports and the cities market their profiles and make them attractive for airlines and investors by showcasing a one stop information portal for; passenger projections, facilities, infrastructure, potentials and essential amenities of the region that attracts travel and investment”.
By: Sade Williams
