The Lafia airport is to serve as alternative airport for troubled aircraft anywhere in the world, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed said at the weekend.
The airport is originally targeted as cargo airport because of the agarian nature of the state.
Mohammed explained that when completed, NOTAM will be seent out to airmen to ensure its availability to all aircraft in the world.
NOTAM is a notice containing information (not known sufficiently in advance to publicize by other means) concerning the establishment, condition, or change in any component (facility, service, or procedure of, or hazard in the National Airspace System) the timely knowledge of which is essential to personnel concerned with flight operations.
The Lafia airport with 2.2km length runway he said “is opened to the whole world”.
The minister who spoke in Lafia after inspecting the project longside the Deputy Governor Emmanuel Akabe said, airport is very critical to the economic development of a place, therefore investing in this project is a very wise one.
He addded, “Even now, it is being used skeletally and we believe that with the 2.2km runway, it is adequate to take cargo flight and they have also informed us that they did not rule out passenger schedules.
“An airport with 2.2km length runway is opened to the whole world. The beauty of an airport is that when it is built and classified, what is called NOTAM will be sent to airmen. Anywhere in the world, any aircraft that is probably in trouble will detect the airport and land safely. Any aircraft in distress around here can locate the airort for safe landing. 2.2km runway is not small it can take any plane for flight to anywhere in the world.
“An airport is very critical to the economic development of a place, therefore investing in this project is a very wise move by the people of Nasarawa state.”
He also said the airport will also help the state tourism development.
In his remark, the Deputy Governor, Akabe said the airport is one of the priority project of the current administration.
“The idea here again is that it will also serve as an alternative to the Abuja airport apart from planes being in distress, it can serve as alternative to Abuja for bad weather and some special flights. We believe that before the end of the year we will open it,” he added.
