No fewer than four state governments have unveiled plans to build airports in their respective states. The latest with such plan is Ekiti State. Besides Ekiti, Bayelsa, Abia, Osun and Ogun states are at various stages in their plans to build an airport each.
By the time the airports are completed, they would have spent close to N150b on the projects that may not be different from the ones in Delta, Akwa Ibom and Imo states, which are presently not viable. The airports in these areas have not significantly improved the economies of the states, because of little traffic.
Many of the state owned airports have become liabilities to the aviation agencies, even when they do not have direct impact on the people.
There are fears also that the ongoing Bayelsa airport project may go the way of Jigawa airport. The state governor is said to be shopping for N40b loan facilities from commercial banks for the project.
Stakeholders also expressed fears over the planned Ekiti airport. They said even Akure airport, that is not too far away has been dormant for many years. They are afraid it might be another waste of public fund to build an airport in that zone.
They have therefore called on state governments to carry out project feasibility studies to determine the viability of airports in their states before venturing into such. They argued that airports should be built for commercial reasons and not for political consideration.
Presently, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) manages 22 airports nationwide. Of the 22, only Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Kano International Airports are said to be commercially viable. Others can hardly sustain their operational costs. (Guardian Ngr)