Ebonyi Awaits NCAA's Approval for Airport Commercial Flights

Ebonyi State government on Tuesday said it has committed substantial investment for remediation work on the runway project at the Chuba Okadigbo International Airport as it awaits approval from the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) for commercial flights commencement.

The state Commissioner for Aviation and Transport Technology, Dr. (Mrs) Ngozi Obichukwu disclosed this yesterday at the ninth edition of the Airport Business Summit & Expo in Lagos.

According to her, the 3.1 kilometre runway of the airport is now fully resurfaced, with a utility timeline of over a century.

She said the state government has scaled efforts to ensure that all that is needed to make the aerodrome operational has been put in place, pending approval from the regulatory authorities for commercial operations.

Dr. Obichukwu said part of huge investment on the facility consists of September 2023’s state government’s approval of a huge amount earmarked for the rehabilitation of the runway, which was awarded to an Infrastructure Development Company for a delivery date of eight months.

She said: “Last year, when the airport was completed, the runway’s slippery nature caused issues with flights. Consequently, the governor intervened to upgrade the runway to meet the required standards; the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and NCAA guided the upgrade.

“On July 30th, the runway was completed to international standards, with concrete base and asphalt finish. The Chuba Okadigbo International Airport runway, marked and ready can now support three Boeing 747s landing simultaneously.

“Flight operations are expected to commence as soon as the NCAA team concludes inspections and grants the necessary approvals.”

In a related development, convener and founder of the Airport Business Summit, Mr Fortune Idu said the forum was put together as the largest indigenous platform for industry stakeholders, to exchange ideas on how to harness airport investment opportunities, as well as enhance airport performance in supporting air connectivity.