The Margaret Ekpo International Airport in Calabar, Cross River State, will soon be closed to traffic to allow repair work to begin on its dilapidated tarmac.
When the rehabilitation work commences, aircraft coming to Calabar will be diverted to the cargo airport in Akwa Ibom State, about 120 kilometers from the Cross River State capital. Already, the contract for the repair has been awarded by the Federal Ministry of Aviation.
The renovation of the airport is also part of the federal government’s resolve to upgrade facilities in the aviation industry to meet international standards and also check security lapses, the airport management has said.
Last year, the federal executive council selected some airports in the country, including the Calabar airport, for a comprehensive face lift of their facilities, in line with the Bilateral Air Services Agreement signed with some countries.
Calabar’s international airport is a beneficiary of that agreement due to its proximity to the Republic of Cameroun and Equitorial Guinea. In the days of the now-defunct Nigeria Airways, the Calabar airport maintained regular international flights to Douala and Yauonde in Cameroun and Malabo in Equitorial Guinea.
No security lapse
The public relations officer of the Margaret Ekpo International Airport, Iloanya Uyu, said maintenance work on the runway is not necessarily a factor of security but a deliberate policy of the government to upgrade facilities in all its airports, and that the exercise will last for two weeks.
According to her, the security of the airport will continue to be of utmost concern to the management in view of its international status and nearness to countries in the Central African sub-region.
“Our airport is always safe. We do not need any security lapse in any part of the world before we can fortify it more. We are always on red alert and the surfacing of the runway is just the normal routine maintenance of the airport,” she added.
Mrs Uyu described the runway upgrade as necessary to enhance greater productivity of air operators and appealed to its users to exercise some patience pending completion of the work.