Give us an overview of the infrastructural upgrades that have been carried out so far at the airport?
Thank you very much. The infrastructural upgrade, especially the terminal extension came up when the Governor saw the passion to collaborate with FAAN, with the Aviation Ministry to upgrade the airport. So, he went to see the Minister. He spoke with the Minister and the Minister gave his word. The Minister came here with all the heads of agencies, FAAN, NAMA, NCAA, and other aviation stakeholders. We took a facility tour of what is on ground here with the Minister and the State Government. Later we went to the Government House, we sat down, and so many things were brought out, what is on ground, what is not on ground, what needs to be upgraded, what needs to be provided. And the Minister asked all the agencies, the heads of agencies, to come up with their plan for the upgrade.
So, in particular, FAAN brought out its working plan. We will provide this, we will provide this in terms of equipment, in terms of facilities, in terms of manpower. And the Governor took it upon himself to do the structural work, the construction of the extension of the terminal.
So, immediately, FAAN submitted the drawing of what it wanted the terminal to look like, and the drawing was adopted, generally, and immediately the State Government started work. And this work, the work took a little while and, thank God, we are seeing to its almost 90-something completion. So, FAAN, on its own side, has brought all the necessary equipment, as you can see.
Tell us about the facility being put in place now?
I am sure you have taken the tour of what is on ground. We have checking counters here, which are digital. We are moving away from the analog counters as we have it in the old domestic terminal. So, these checking counters are digital. They have the weighing scale attached to it, so you don’t need to have the weighing scale separate and the counter separate. So, this one has modern checking counters provided by FAAN Management. And the FAAN Management also provided the seating for the passenger seat. They also provided the screening machines. They also provided the belts, the conveyor belts and the carousel. All of them are on the ground right now. And some of them have been fixed. Some are still work ongoing.
The upgraded facility here, the terminal, has a passenger holding capacity of close to 500, which is a very, very good lift from what we have already, which is close to less than 300 passengers.
Is the passenger’s holding capacity for a particular period?
Yes, the passenger holding capacity of 500 is at once. So, if we have more than one airline operating, we don’t have any issue. We can have more than one airline, two, three, operating at the same time. We will not have any issue. Like in Maiduguri, we used to have four commercial scheduled flights. So, if we have those scheduled flights at the same time, we will not have any constraint in terms of facilities and equipment.
Aside from schedule operators, any other operations at the airport?
Maiduguri has non-scheduled operators, which are United Nations Humanitarian Air Services and World Food Programme. Then we have Doctors Without Borders. We have ICRC as well, International Community of Red Cross. They also schedule non-commercial flights. We have the helicopter services here, global helicopters. In a day, we will have like five helicopter movements. So, there is a lot of traffic in Maiduguri.
How strategic is this airport for operations into neighbouring countries?
Maiduguri is strategically situated; it has that strategic location advantage that airlines can take advantage of. It is the only airport that has borders with three countries, that is Chad, Cameroon and Niger, which is a very, very good opportunity for us and FAAN to explore regional hope. We can have it, it has the strategic advantage more than any other airport in the country, which gives us an edge. So, at FAAN, this is what we are looking at, at the local level, and we are taking it up with our headquarters, to see how we can harness this opportunity.
Let’s look at the traffic, the projected traffic for international flight operations when the airport finally begins full operations?
Yes, here is more like a hub, and the hub status is very, very strong that once the international operation starts, we may start with the regional flight, as I mentioned. We can have a regional hub, we can have N’Djamena, Cameroon, we can have Niger as well. These are border countries, bordering Nigeria through Maiduguri. So, this regional hub can be extended into international routes as well.
We do our route, and we have been doing the route analysis for quite a while now, and it’s proven to be something that would work. Yes, so that is what we are looking at now. We can have a flight, maybe, Maiduguri and N’Djamena, we can extend it, maybe, to start from Kano, Kano, Maiduguri and N’Djamena, then Maiduguri-Kano. This is a well-established route, since Trans-Saharan trade. It can be reactivated. Before, it used to be a camel and a road, maybe, but now we can introduce the flight advantage as well. Not only N’Djamena, we can extend it to Central Africa, which is Bangui. That used to be the trade route in those days.
Are you into any discussion with any particular airline?
Yes, exactly. We have one of our operators here that has shown interest. It has done its own route analysis. We have been talking about it for years. Even recently, one of them called me and we had some discussion. So, they too are at their own level, they are doing it, and we at the station level, we are doing it.
I want you to speak about other government agencies that will man the international borders at this airport?
Yes, we have a very good relationship with the agencies, Immigration, the Border Control, DSS, Customs, because, as I mentioned, the first time the minister came, all their representatives came as well. The immigration boss sent somebody, the Comptroller General also sent somebody. So, we sat down, we analysed what is on ground, and everybody went back and came up with their own implementation plan.
Talk about the facilities for them to work here?
Yes, the facilities are ready. For now, what we have is the domestic site. We are trying to push our domestic operation here. Then we made reconfiguration. Just a small reconfiguration of what we have on the other side, to accommodate the international operations.
Now, let’s look at the Hajj. I know Maiduguri plays a strong role during the Hajj operation. What are the targets, the people that come from different states? How many states usually converge here?
Yes, we have two states here, Yobe and Maiduguri. And this is why, at the airport level, I would say that we did excellently well, because this is one of the airports that does not have a Hajj terminal. We have the terminal, but due to the insurgency, the terminal has been overtaken by the military. So, we usually co-locate our operations, both domestic and Hajj operations, in one terminal.
And this usually gives us a serious challenge. But, thank God, with the help of FAAN management, we are able to navigate through. Since I came here, we have had two Hajj operations. And this is what we usually have, because the two states operating here, Yobe and Maiduguri, have a large number of pilgrims. So just imagine having your domestic operation, doing it alongside your domestic operation. Sometimes we have two or three domestic operations.
It is really very, very challenging, and we are able to navigate through. Not only the last Hajj, we had two carriers operating for the Hajj operation. One for Yobe and one for Maiduguri. And with the support of FAAN management, we are able to do the operation seamlessly.
I want you to speak to the cargo potentials of this airport. What do you say to cargo operators and cargo agents?
Yes, there is a lot of cargo traffic here, in terms of livestock and foodstuff as well. As I mentioned, the trade routes from Maiduguri, N’Djamena, Cameroon, and Niger, there is a lot of cargo advantage there that can be enhanced. Just yesterday, somebody from the Ministry of Livestock came. We are having some discussions with them on how to make that possible.
Outside the country and within the country?
Yes, the state government has some reach outside the country. Both Yobe and Maiduguri have their own reach outside the country. They are talking to some investors to come and see the potential here. And also, a lot of cargo potentials are here, because we have very good land here in Maiduguri and Yobe. Not only that, this is the regional airport. It has Yola, Gombe, and Bauchi under it. These are all states that are blessed in terms of agricultural advantages.
The security operatives, how often do they patrol the airport precincts, the territory?
We have very good security layers here. We have the airport; we have the strike group. I told you, the strike group occupying our hajj terminal. And we have the air force facilities all around us. Then we have the civilians. We have a lot of strong military and security presence here. We don’t have any issues.
Your runway looks very good. Did you add anything to it?
It is very good. It does not just look very good. It is very, very good. With the help of FAAN management, we have been doing a lot on the runway. It is an old runway, but we have been maintaining it very, very well. FAAN management is giving us all the support we need.
Finally, if you start an international operation, what is your projection in terms of passenger traffic?
One aspect that we look at during the route analysis at our own level here, we went as far as going into town to see the car parks where people are loaded with the buses going to Chad and other neighboring states. What we found out is not everybody that uses buses can afford aircraft, but when the aircraft is available, somebody will look at that as an advantage. So, we have a considerable amount of traffic here.
Maybe not necessarily a Boeing 737, but a smaller aircraft like the Embraer or the Bombardiers.
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