The Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika has assured that the Federal government will fast track all that is necessary for the resumption of international flight operations at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano.
The Minister gave the assurance on Tuesday when he received a delegation from Kano State, led by Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje at his office in Abuja.
He explained that the decision to suspend international flights to and from the airport, like the ones in Enugu and Port Harcourt, was for health and security reasons.
Sirika stated that the ministry was willing to reopen the airport for international flight operations, saying the continued suspension of international flights to and from the airport was denying the Federal Government and its agencies a lot of revenue.
According to Sirika, it does not make economic sense for the government to spend so much money as it has done in the airport and just decide to leave it inoperative with the attendant degeneration on infrastructure, redundancy amongst operational staff, revenue losses, and hardship to travellers, among other challenges.
The Minister acknowledged the hardship to the users of the airport, passengers, and service providers alike, and challenged Kano indigenes to create activities that would make the airport more viable through increased passenger traffic.
In his remarks, Governor Ganduje had informed the minister that the delegation embarked on the visit for two reasons.
The first, he noted, was to show appreciation to the Federal Government for the completion of the International Wing of the airport, and secondly to appeal for the resumption of international flight operations at the aviation facility.
The governor was concern about the effect of the continued suspension of international flights to and from the airport by passengers and service providers.
He stated that the Kano State government has put in place all that was necessary to make the state healthy for flights, including the mobilisation of the populace for the COVID-19 vaccination exercise.
The delegation on the visit to the minister included some members of the Kano State House of Assembly, representatives of the Emir of Kano, and members of the Kano Chamber of Commerce.
