The federal government says savings from the removal of petrol and foreign exchange subsidies are helping to finance major aviation infrastructure projects, including the expansion of Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos and a second runway at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.
Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development Festus Keyamo said more than N500 billion was being committed to the Lagos international terminal project, while the planned second Abuja runway would cost close to N400 billion. He also disclosed that plans were being finalized to connect the Lagos airport complex to the city’s Red Line rail network.
Keyamo spoke at the 67th anniversary celebration of Aero Contractors in Lagos, where he argued that delaying critical infrastructure often results in substantially higher costs.
He recalled that a proposal for the second Abuja runway was rejected by the National Assembly about 16 years ago when the project was estimated at N63.5 billion. The cost, he said, had now risen to nearly N400 billion.
The minister attributed past difficulties in funding large capital projects partly to the scale of government spending on petrol subsidy and foreign exchange support. He said the removal of those obligations had improved liquidity and strengthened the country’s ability to mobilize funds for infrastructure.
Keyamo also said the government was working on an extension of the Lagos Red Line through the domestic airport area, with a stop around the Air Force Base and an underground connection to the international terminal. The proposal is intended to improve passenger movement and integrate air travel with urban rail transport.
He said airport modernization was already creating jobs, citing more than 2,000 workers engaged on the Lagos project through the contractor handling the development.
The minister used the occasion to praise Aero Contractors for surviving a difficult operating environment in which many Nigerian airlines had disappeared. He described the carrier’s longevity as evidence of institutional resilience in the aviation sector.
Aero Contractors Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Ado Sanusi said the airline’s 67 year history had included grounded fleets, financial crises and periods when it had no aircraft in active service. He credited employees who remained committed to the company through repeated operational challenges.
Established in 1959 as a charter and crop spraying operation serving the Niger Delta, Aero later expanded into scheduled passenger services, helicopter operations and aviation training. In January 2018, its engineers completed a heavy maintenance check on a Boeing 737 in Lagos, a milestone the company described as a first for West and Central Africa.
Sanusi also acknowledged the intervention of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, which took a majority stake in the airline in 2016 during a period of severe financial distress.
AMCON said its intervention was beginning to produce positive results. A representative of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority also commended the airline’s endurance and contribution to the industry.
Despite the celebration, Sanusi warned that Nigeria must treat aviation as a strategic economic sector. He said continued investment in airports, maintenance facilities and the wider aviation ecosystem would be necessary to prevent jobs and investment from migrating to competing markets.
