Our airports are still far from global standards – Keyamo

Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has acknowledged that while Nigeria’s airports, notably the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos, have seen recent improvements, they remain below international standards.

Keyamo made the remarks in a tweet on Sunday in response to a public commendation by UK-based academic and career coach, Dr. Dipo Awojide (@OgbeniDipo), who praised the enhanced passenger experience at the Lagos airport.

“Kudos @fkeyamo, Lagos airport has changed for good,” Dr. Awojide tweeted.

He added: “Aircraft to welcome area looks cleaner and the security area is well designed. My bag came out in 10 minutes. Exit to parking area is way better. I say this as someone who has been travelling for over 15 years. This is the easiest it has been for me in Lagos. Few more cultural issues to tackle, but overall, I acknowledge the significant improvement.”

In his response, Keyamo expressed gratitude for the recognition but offered a sobering assessment of Nigeria’s airport infrastructure.

“Thank you, @OgbeniDipo, for your compliments. But our airports are still far away from global standards, I must admit,” the minister wrote. “We are just making the best of the situation as we found it.”

Providing context, Keyamo noted that the old MMIA terminal, built in 1977, was initially designed to handle around 200,000 passengers per year.

“Now, we are doing about 3 million passengers in that airport alone per annum and about 15 million nationwide per annum,” he revealed. “See the difference! Hence, over the years, the facilities almost collapsed!”

However, the minister assured Nigerians that significant upgrades are on the way under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.

“But thanks to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, @officialABAT, we are about to embark on a total rebuilding of the old MMI Airport in Lagos to meet modern standards, with a projection of about 20 million passengers per annum. We will unveil the full details before Nigerians in the next few weeks,” Keyamo said.