The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo (SAN), has commended the quality of work done on the Ekiti State Agro-Allied International Cargo Airport, Ado- Ekiti, describing the airport runway as world-class.
Keyamo who landed at the Ekiti airport around 5.15pm on Monday and was welcomed with a water salute, said he was at the airport on a fact finding mission.
He told journalists on arrival that the airport is ready, adding that virtually all the facilities needed for a standard airport have been provided.
The Minister said the delay in the commencement of commercial flight operations at the airport is to give room for non-schedule flight which is the standard procedure across the world.
Keyamo said the agro allied airport has been on the radar of the Ministry of Aviation for a long time and it was high time it commenced operation.
“Well, I am here on a fact finding mission, the Ekiti Agro- Allied Airport has been on our radar for a long time and we felt it was time for us to start operations here.
“What we have approved for now is for the first six months for us to conduct non-scheduled flight. In other words, we will not have big commercial airlines coming in with plenty of passengers now but it is ready for the private jets to come in now to test the facilities here. It’s not because it is not ready but that is actually the standard procedure all over the world that you start with non-scheduled flight and test the facilities before bringing a lot of passengers here.
“I can see that the aeronautical side is absolutely ready, the aeronautical where you have runway and am sure you have seen the quality of the runway, this quality of the runway you see here can be compared to any runway in the world”, the Minister asserted.
The Aviation Minister said the airport is long overdue considering the huge agribusiness going on in Ekiti State.
He expressed optimism that the airport would compete favorably with similar airports across the world.
The Minister was received at the airport by the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Mr Oyeniyi Adebayo; Commissioner for Transport, Mr Kolawole Ajobiewe; Commissioner for Information, Rt Hon Taiwo Olatunbosun, Special Adviser Media, Mr Yinka Oyebode, and Technical Adviser to the Governor on Airport Project, AVM Sunday Makinde (rtd) among others.
The visit came barely one week after the National Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) embarked on the calibration of landing equipment at the airport