Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has certified the Kaduna International Airport, Kaduna, fit and ready for 24 hours local and international operations.
NCAA affirmed that all necessary steps to ensure that the status of the Airport as an Alternate Airport to the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, (NAIA), during the closure have been put in place.
A statement signed by the spokesperson for the regulatory authority, Sam Adurogboye,
claimed that the navigational aids have been well calibrated and fully functional to facilitate continuous smooth landings and takeoffs.
“Therefore, towards a seamless flight operations in line with Standard and Recommended Practices (SARPs), all relevant departments and directorates with full complement of staff have been redeployed to Kaduna from the aviation agencies,” the statement added.
It added that the Regional Managers of NCAA Abuja and Kaduna offices are on ground to allow for smooth integration of the additional staff coming to Kaduna.
To sustain the safety and security of airline operations, NCAA said a team of Aviation Safety Inspectors (ASI) from the Directorate of Airworthiness Standards (DAWS), Directorate of Consumer Protection, (DCP), Directorate of Air Transport Regulations (DATR), Directorate of Aerodrome and Airspace Standard, (DAAS) and Aviation Security Personnel are already at the airport.
The National Security Committee has designed and got approval for the Security programme to cover the airport and its environs during the six weeks closure.
“All the relevant aviation agencies, the Regulatory Authority, (NCAA), Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Nigerian Customs and Excise, (NCS), Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), Nigerian Police Force and other security services etc are all at the airport to provide unhindered facilitation of passenger traffic and flights,” the statement concluded.
It is however expected that Ethiopia Airlines (ET) would operate the first schedulef international flight to the Kaduna airport on Wednesday when flight operations start upon
the closure of Abuja Airport.
It will be recalled that the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) will close the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, (NAIA), effectively midnight of Wednesday March 8, 2016, to allow for extensive repairs on the runway.
The regulatory authority therefore assure all passengers that all hands are deck to conduct a safe and secure air transport operations at all airports in Nigeria.
