Abuja Airport closure: Bristow chooses Minna over Kaduna

Bristow Helicopters (Nigeria) Ltd. on Thursday said it would continue to offer its Lagos-Abuja fixed-wing charter services via Minna Airport during the closure of the Abuja Airport.

The federal government has made arrangements for flights to be diverted to Kaduna Airport from Wednesday when Abuja airport would be closed in order to repair its runway.

But Mayowa Babatunde, Bristow Helicopters’ head of business development, told journalists on Thursday that the company would operate a daily flight from Lagos to Minna, utilising an Embraer 135 aircraft with 37 seating capacity.

He said at Minna Airport, Bristow would operate a helicopter shuttle service to and from Abuja Airport for its customers.

“After several safety and operational reviews, we are pleased with the state of the runway and conditions of the Minna Airport located in Niger state, north-central Nigeria,” he said.

“We will use Minna Airport to continue the provision of seamless charter air travel to Abuja for corporate and business organisations.

“We want to assure our clients of a continuous impeccable flight service for which the Bristow brand is synonymous.”

Babatunde said from the Minna Airport, Bristow will provide helicopter shuttle services to the VIP wing of the Abuja International Airport.

He said two Bristow helicopters, a Sikorsky S-92 and S-76, with the capacity to fly 19 and 12 passengers respectively, would provide shuttle services between Minna Airport and Abuja International Airport.

“Bristow introduced fixed-wing charter services to cater for the business travelers across Nigeria in November, 2015,” he said.

“Starting with the Lagos – Port Harcourt route and recently expanding the service to include the Lagos – Abuja route, Bristow’s fixed-wing service is a further evidence of its commitment to Nigeria.

“It is also part of our continuing efforts to provide reliable and safe services to its customers.”

Some airlines have ruled out the option of flying to Kaduna, citing safety reasons.