Ogun new cargo airport excites IATA, others

The international aviation sector has been upbeat at the scheduled coming on stream in December this year of Ogun State new agro cargo airport, the first of its kind in Africa. 

International aviation agencies, such as International Air Transport Association (IATA), an association of airline traders around the world, and local regulatory agencies, such as Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Nigerian Metrological Agency (NiMet) and Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), have all indicated interest in the new airport because of its strategic location.

The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) and Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), two critical components in aviation security and safety, are also not left behind, while the fire station within the airport is nearing completion.

The state’s Commissioner for Works, Ade Akinsanya, while explaining the rationale behind the new airport during a facility tour with newsmen, said the agro cargo airport would stimulate economic activity around the corridor.

He said that the airport, which is the first of its kind in Nigeria with a blend of features of the San Francisco Airport and Dubai Airport, would be ready in December.

The control tower and runaway, the two most important features in airports, according to him, have reached 80 per cent completion. Akinsanya also said that the icing on the cake of the airport is the economic deals with African Development Bank (AfDB) to site an agro testing firm at Sagamu, adding that most of the agricultural produce in Nigeria lack certification, which had made their exportation to other countries impossible.