TheCable

The Akwa Ibom state government says the new terminal building with a 1000-seat capacity for arrival and departure hall at the Victor Attah International Airport will be completed in 2022.

Okpolupm Etteh, the state commissioner for special duties, made this known during a tour of the airport in Uyo, the state capital, on Thursday.

The construction of the terminal building which is modelled after Istanbul’s airport terminal in Turkey began in July 2019.

Etteh said when completed, the terminal building would handle both domestic and international flights.

He said the project was earlier projected to be completed in December 2021 but added that COVID-19 disrupted the plan.

“If not for COVID-19, we were looking at completing this project by December this year, but now, we are looking at the middle of next year, there is nothing we can do. Even the roofing sheets, we are still expecting them from Turkey,” he said.

“So far, so good we are very okay, but you know, even when you finish, you still need one or two months to test run all the electrical facilities before handing over.

“There are a few things that we have here in the terminal that they do not have at the terminal in Istanbul, Turkey. Virtually everything here is going to be automated, even the lifts, the escalators, that is what makes this building a smart building.

“This terminal is designed to process a minimum of one million passengers a year. It has a sitting capacity of 1,000.

“The building is divided into two, one way is domestic, the other way is international. We have immigration, we have customs, we have duty free shops, everything you have in an international airport.”

The commissioner said facilities in the building will be automated as a million passengers are predicted to access the terminal yearly.

He said the project will serve as a source of revenue for the state government, adding that the airport would serve as a hub for aviation operations in the region, with the completion of the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) section and other ongoing projects.

“This building is not only for domestic operations, we are looking at it becoming a regional hub, so there is going to be a lot of employment here, and there will be a lot of revenue for the Akwa Ibom government,” he added.

“We have so many projects around here. We are also working on the inside for completion of the MRO.

“Aviation is one that will bring so much investment and revenue to the state. That is why we just procured the brand new aircraft that is about to arrive, those ones will do international flights within the sub region.”