The Ogun State government has declared that currently, the Gateway International Agro-cargo Airport is the best in Nigeria and the West African corridor, boasting the longest runway.
The state government shared the details and the unique selling point during a meeting with the League of Airport and Aviation Correspondents (LAAC) at the facility, which was jointly hosted by the Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Ade Akinsanya; Commissioner for Transportation, Gbenga Dairo; the Airport Manager, Dapo Olumide; and the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Strategy, Kayode Akinmade.
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At the meeting, Mr Akinsanya declared that the airport has the best facilities in Nigeria and the West African corridor, with the runway capable of accommodating wide-bodied aircraft.
According to Mr Akinsanya, the Ogun airport, which is 95-98 percent complete, has a runway that is 4 km long and 60 m wide, which equals 17 lanes of road infrastructure, making it the longest and largest in Nigeria and the West African sub-region.
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He added that the size of the airport, especially with its long runway, was consciously planned to accommodate international flights coming in with wide-body aircraft like a Boeing 777 or A350.
He said: “While the total size of the airport is 5,000 hectares, we started this first phase on 900 hectares, so what you see as an open space is part of a master plan because this is also an aerotropolis. There are going to be hotels, amusement parks, and cinemas in the future; that is all part of the master plan. You can’t put everything together in one day.
“Overall, where we are today, I am pretty certain that we are ready to go commercial. Once we get the approval from the NCAA for commercial operations, we will commence. Right now, we have the approval for chartered flights.
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“The runway has been completed for a long time, the fire station is done, and you see the two fire tenders outside, with a new addition making it three. Right now, we are class six, and with that additional fire tender, we are moving to class seven,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Airport Manager, Mr Olumide, disclosed that the airport, when fully operational, would be the first in Nigeria to operate with an operating permit, while the Ogun State Commissioner for Transportation stated that the airport is situated within a special agricultural processing zone and is one of the eight zones across Nigeria, describing the airport as a legacy project of Governor Dapo Abiodun.
Mr Olumide linked the slight delay in the completion of the project to the government’s desire to attain a new status of operation, as opposed to what is common in the industry.
According to him, the operating permit would enable the airport to attain the ENCAS 2023 permit, which is more stringent than the Aerodrome Certification.
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“There are some people who have said, why is our airport taking so long, that an airport can be built in six months? What they don’t understand is that since the good old days of the FCAA, we have what they call an Aerodrome Certificate.
“With ENCAS 2023, it has changed now to an operating permit, and there is a difference between an operating permit and an Aerodrome Certificate. Even with the old Aerodrome Certificate, how many airports in Nigeria comply?
“We are the first airport in Nigeria trying to attain the status of a full operating permit. It is for that reason alone that this project is taking longer than it would have if we had opted for an Aerodrome Certificate,” he said.
Meanwhile, members of LAAC scored the cargo airport an A-plus in terms of its designs and installations, affirming that the airport has the best facilities in the country at the moment.
The Chairman of the league and Editor of the Aviation and Transport section of the Blueprint Newspaper, Suleiman Idris, who spoke after the on-the-spot assessment of the level of work on the airport project, commended the visionary leadership of Governor Abiodun, even as he affirmed that the airport project is a futuristic initiative not only for the state but for the South West region of the country.
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