Federal Government of Nigeria has fhanded over the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, to Aero Alliance Limited under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement aimed at rehabilitating, expanding, and managing the airport in line with international best practices.
Under the PPP deal which was signed on Thursday at the airport’s new terminal by the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo,, Aero Alliance Limited will finance, rehabilitate, expand, operate and manage the airport with a view to enhancing its safety, operational efficiency and good passenger experience while positioning the airport as a major aviation hub in the South-East.
The agreement, which is the first successful deal on the airport after more than two decades of failed concession efforts, is part of the Federal Government’s transformational strategies to modernise airport infrastructure, improve operational efficiency, and attract private sector investment into Nigeria’s aviation sector.
Speaking during the signing ceremony, Keyamo recalled that previous attempts to concession the airport had failed over the past 20 years as investors focused mainly on Lagos, Abuja and Kano airports’ concessioning.
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The minister pointed out that the successful concessioning of the airport will boost investor confidence in the nation’s aviation sector, with bids already being prepared for three airports.
Keyamo disclosed that the Port Harcourt International Airport would also be concessioned within the next few weeks.
The minister said: “This concession plan has been on for about twenty years, but it has only become possible under the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“Before now, investors focused mainly on Lagos, Abuja and Kano airports. Nobody was interested in Enugu and Port Harcourt. Today, Enugu has been successfully concessioned and Port Harcourt will also be handed over within the next few weeks”, he added.
Keyamo urged the owners of Aero Alliance Limited to deliver efficient airport operations, noting that its performance would serve as a benchmark for future airport concessions across the country.
According to him, the Enugu Airport concessioning is facilitated through collaboration with the Enugu State Government, and commended the State Governor, Peter Mbah, for helping to attract investors to the airport.
He also disclosed that the state government had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to facilitate direct flight connectivity between Enugu and Guangzhou, China, adding that proposed international flight route is expected to strengthen trade, tourism and investment links between the South-East and China.
Keyamo recalled that aviation labour unions had initially challenged the concessioning programme in court based on their concerns about potential job losses in the deal but later withdrew their cases after engaging with the government.
He assured the airport staff that their welfare would be protected under the new arrangement, while emphasising that airport operations would now be driven by private sector efficiency and accountability.
In his brief remarks, Governor Mbah described the concession as a major milestone in the state’s plan to position Enugu as a regional aviation, logistics and investment hub in West Africa.
It would be recalled that the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) had confirmed that the concession agreement for the Akanu Ibiam International Airport Enugu represented a core component of the Federal Government’s aviation sector reform agenda, had been endorsed by the Federal Ministry of Justice.
