Reps ask FG to reopen Kano airport for international flights

The house of representatives has passed a resolution asking the federal government to reopen the international wing of the Mallam Aminu Kano international airport.

There have been calls for the federal government to reopen the international wing of the airport, since it was shut down in 2020 as part of efforts to curtail the spread of COVID-19.

However, Hadi Sirika, minister of aviation, has said the decision to suspend international flights in Kano — as is the case with the airports in Enugu and Port Harcourt — is for health and security reasons.

At the plenary session on Wednesday, the house of representatives passed a resolution on the reopening of the airport, following the adoption of a motion sponsored by Ado Doguwa, house majority leader, and 33 other lawmakers.

The lawmakers noted that the airport has remained closed despite its importance to Nigerians, foreigners and the economy, especially as it is “the hub of Muslim pilgrimages in northern Nigeria, alongside serving other exigencies like emergency medical evacuations”.

According to the house of representatives, the continued closure of the airport has jeopardised investments and “brought untold hardship in many dimensions from economic to social loss of revenues generated by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN)”.

The motion was put to a voice vote by Idris Wase, deputy speaker, and was subsequent adopted.

The house, therefore, directed its committee on aviation to interface with the minister of aviation to agree on a timeline to reopen the international wing of the Kano airport.