After the initial six weeks announced as the duration for repairing the Abuja international airport, the federal government has now indicated that the works could take a further 18 weeks to perfect the repair works. An official of the federal government announced on Sunday that upon completion of the initial repair, upgrade works will continue for another three months. The upgrade work will, however, be at night while full operations would continue during the day at the airport.

The government official who spoke with Premium Times stated that there would be no disruption of flight schedules while the midnight upgrades continue upon the reopening of the airport on April 19.

“After the Abuja airport reopens for operations on April 19, upgrade works on the runway would continue for another 18 weeks. This second phase of upgrade works on the runway will be carried out at night, with no disruption to flight schedules.”

While expressing the possibility of a scheduled press tour of the Abuja airport later in the week, the official who spoke under anonymity stated that the repair work would reach mid-point by Wednesday 29th March.

Since the closure of the Abuja international airport on March 8th, international and national flights have been diverted to the Kaduna airport where the federal government has made free shuttle buses available for transportation of passengers to Abuja. In addition to the free buses, the government has also made available free train transportation for passengers coming in to Kaduna from Abuja as well as those going to Abuja from Kaduna. The move has seen increased traffic of people at the Kaduna airport. The government recently put the number of passengers recorded in the first eleven days of the closure of the Abuja airport at 43,000.

Meanwhile, the presidency office of Digital Engagement, PODE, has moved to quench the circulation of the news of an extension to the duration of the repair works at the Abuja airport. Through a tweet from his Twitter handle, the Head of the PODE, Tolu Ogunlesi stated that the information of an extended duration of the repair work was never hidden from the public.

In a related development, the Minister of State for Aviation has said that he would resign if the repair works at the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport are not completed in six weeks as earlier announced.

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