Chyz*:


My question was: "PH International airport is in the East, right? Then which section is Asaba International airport?"- Answer please. Thank you.


The demand is there and the ministers move is only going to attract more money. Read:

Akanu Ibiam International Airport is closer to several parts of the following states: Abia, Anambra, Benue, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Enugu, Imo, and Kogi states. As such, international passengers to these states will find Akanu Ibiam Airport indispensable, as the costs associated with travelling to their destinations through Lagos or Kano(Abuja as well) will be eliminated.

It is crucial to note that the Southeast Nigeria, with Enugu as its headquarters as well as its center in terms of geographical location, is the home to the first, third, fourth and fifth largest markets and commercial centers in Africa. The famous Onitsha Market in the city of Onitsha, which is 85.22kilometers away from Enugu, is the largest market in Africa. It attracts a daily visit of over 200,000 people with the visitors coming from each of the 36 states in Nigeria, and neighboring countries, including Ghana, Cameroun, Ivory Coast, Togo, Chad, Senegal, Niger and other countries in West African sub-continent.

Other important markets that will support the viability and boost the economic benefits of Akanu Ibiam International Airport include Nnewi Market at Nkwo Nnewi - the automobile center of West Africa, Ariari Market at Aba, Ogbate Market in Enugu, Kenyatta Market in Enugu, and Eke Market in Ekwulobia. The Auto spare parts market at Nkwo Nnewi stands out as the largest automobile and motorcycle spare parts market in Africa. Nnewi is known as the Detroit of Africa because it has the highest concentration of auto manufacturing and assembling plants in Africa. Similar to Onitsha, Nnewi is 80.45 kilometers away from Enugu.

A large number of Igbo businessmen and women deal on motor spare parts and most of them come to Nnewi to obtain their merchandise. This means that most spare parts business people who reside in various parts of Nigeria, from Lagos in the West to Kano in the North travel to Nnewi to obtain their merchandise. Akanu Ibiam International Airport will also become the landing port for others from all the African countries that visit Nnewi for automobile business. Currently, they must go through Lagos or Abuja before taking a local flight to Enugu. A direct international flight to Enugu will save time and money – the bottom-line for any business decision.

I don't get the point you are trying to make with regards to Asaba; please explain it.

I am not debating against upgrading the Enugu airport; I am merely suggesting that viability will determine its fate.

billante:

Its ur right to call someone degrading names! But when someone calls u a slowpoke, it pains u! See ur life...when u give respect u get it back!

The last place I would seek respect is from an ibo.

How can you give what you don't have?

Katsumoto:

I don't get the point you are trying to make with regards to Asaba; please explain it.

I am not debating against upgrading the Enugu airport; I am merely suggesting that viability will determine its fate.

1. Long story short, you said the East already has PH. The last time I checked, geo-politically speaking, there is no such place as "the East" in nigeria. There is SE,SS, SW, NC,NE,NW. SS does't not = SE


2. Ok.

Chyz*:


1. Long story short, you said the East already has PH. The last time I checked, geo-politically speaking, there is no such place as "the East" in nigeria. There is SE,SS, SW, NC,NE,NW. SS does't not = SE


2. Ok.

1. So the decision should be based on each zone having an international airport rather than on the viability? What about NE and NW/NC?

Katsumoto:

1. So the decision should be based on each zone having an international airport rather than on the viability? What about NE and NW/NC?

hehe

NW= aminu kano international airport

NC= i guess the international aiport takes care of that one.

Katsumoto:

1. So the decision should be based on each zone having an international airport rather than on the viability? What about NE and NW/NC?

They all have: maiduguri,kano and abuja! And pls for the uptent time enugu international airport is very very viable...

OAM4J:

I think he is referring to directive of the minister for the airlines to consider Enugu instead of Abuja. So the Mallam think she has an ethnic agenda since the minister is from South East.

If this is the case, then the rep is correct. You shouldn't force someone to fly to Enugu if they believe flying to Abuja is more profitable.

asha 80:

hehe

NW= aminu kano international airport

NC= i guess the international aiport takes care of that one.

What about NE?.

billante:

They all have: maiduguri,kano and abuja! And pls for the uptent time enugu international airport is very very viable...

Which international airport is in Maiduguri?

Katsumoto:

What about NE?.

actually maidugiri(NE) is also regarded in some quarters as an international airport as i think it receives some flights from africa.Abuja is enclosed in NC if you view the map.

Katsumoto:

Which international airport is in Maiduguri?

Google is ur friend!

asha 80:

actually maidugiri(NE) is also regarded in some quarters as an international airport as i think it receives some flights from africa.Abuja is enclosed in NC if you view the map.

Ok

And are they forcing the airlines there to use that route?

ekt_bear:

If this is the case, then the rep is correct. You shouldn't force someone to fly to Enugu if they believe flying to Abuja is more profitable.

Its like to tell MTN not to go to abeokuta because they feel its not viable! If you put up service there the market will spring up!...in enugu case, d market is already there...and its not like they are denying them viable routes! The three airlines are already operating from lagos and are looking for more slots

If it is not economically viable for these airlines to fly to Enugu you can't simply force them. It is ridiculous to think that forcing these airlines to fly to Enugu will make the city more attractive to airlines. Unless you can proof that a large percentage of these airlines customer will prefers Enugu to Abuja, I'm afraid I'll agree with Rep that the minister is pursuing a sectional agenda.
Is this not the same woman that gave ultimatum to some airlines to reduce their fees or leave? Nothing came out of her threat. I see her as a fucckking empty barrel, yeye woman.

Me personally, the idea of asking airlines to make double stops doesn't seat well with me, however, the govt can exercise it's power to reform it's travel ministry how they choose. If they believe flying to Enugu and use feeder airlines to reach onto other routes, so be it. Like someone mentioned, after all, they're all owned by the FG.

Someone correct me, a typical flight iterenary will be

Any flight to Enugu (serviced by local carriers)and from Enugu to your international destination... Is that the plan?

Chyz*:


1. Long story short, you said the East already has PH. The last time I checked, geo-politically speaking, there is no such place as "the East" in nigeria. There is SE,SS, SW, NC,NE,NW. SS does't not = SE


2. Ok.

If we decide to base flights not on traffic but on regions, and these airlines pack-up and leave after a couple of months, what comes after that? Who do we blame for the failure of this project?
There are many international airports in Nigeria but 3 of out of all of them are considered most viable than the rest. I don't see what FORCING AIRLINES to fly to Enugu will do to help any. We need to stop meddling with what works, this way. Rather Enugu should work on inviting these airlines.

billante:

Its like to tell MTN not to go to abeokuta because they feel its not viable! If you put up service there the market will spring up!...in enugu case, d market is already there...and its not like they are denying them viable routes! The three airlines are already operating from lagos and are looking for more slots

If it is true that they don't want to go to Enugu, it isn't by force to make them. Find somebody else who wants to service that city.

It is a free world (or at least, should be).

The bolded portions of the article below are very relevant to this thread

The Re-opening of Enugu Airport

Thisday Editorial

Monday, December 27, 2010

Hundreds of thousands of air passengers who use the Akanu Ibiam airport, Enugu, have every reason to be happy at the re-opening of the facility a few days ago. The airport, now upgraded to an international status, had been shut down for more than ten months so that refurbishing work could take place.

While the airport was in disuse Enugu-bound passengers had to endure the routing of their flights through the much smaller Sam Mbakwe airport in Owerri. They would then drive another three hours to Enugu through a federal highway that is in shambles. For most part the journey by road to or from Owerri was like running a gauntlet between armed robbers and kidnappers. Many paid dearly while the closure of the Enugu airport lasted. However, as the saying goes, all is well that ends well.


The reopening of the airport following the expansion of the runway is a welcome development. The Akanu Ibiam airport is one of the oldest in the country. Years of neglect had, however, left the facility in a less-than-befitting state. Not only were the run ways not long enough for international flights, even the departure and arrival lounges had become utterly seedy, lacking some of the basic facilities that standard airports are known for all over the world. News of the upgrading of the airport was understandably therefore well received by most people who use the facility regularly.


As an international airport, the Akanu Ibiam facility is expected to be equipped with modern facilities to enable travelers flying out of the country to take off from Enugu without having to go to Lagos, Abuja or even the Port Harcourt international airport. That it took so long to upgrade the airport is one of those ironies of the Nigerian state. A survey of foreign trips made by Nigerians over the past decade, for instance, indicates that a good deal of it involves people from the Southeast who would have loved to take off straight from Enugu. Yet they had to fly first into some other city before they could catch an overseas flight. Such circumnavigation! Now that the airport has been upgraded to an international status it must live up to the billing in terms of the amount of facilities available there.

Expanding the runways is not enough. Attention also needs to be paid to other operational facilities that conduce to safety. One that cannot wait is the completion of work on the facilities that would enable airplanes take off and land in the night. We hear that right now that cannot happen because the installation of the necessary facilities is yet to be completed.

The airport's terminal building also needs expansion and more modern restrooms. The existing ones are hardly befitting of an international airport. The hope of the users of the Akanu Ibiam international airport is that the airport will match the best anywhere.

For most of them, the upgrading of the airport is prayer answered. The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) must not disappoint them. All that needs to be done to make the airport truly international should be provided. Already some of the foreign carriers are reported to have expressed their preference to originate and terminate their flights in Nigeria from Enugu because of the high volume of their passengers that come from that region. That will be good for not only the prospective passengers but also for FAAN. Let nothing therefore stand in the way of the airport. By and large, we expect the federal government to also upgrade more Nigerian airports to international status.


https://www.nairaland.com/575467/some-foreign-carriers-plan-originate

FSU: The bolded portions of the article below are very relevant to this thread

The Re-opening of Enugu Airport

Thisday Editorial

Monday, December 27, 2010

Hundreds of thousands of air passengers who use the Akanu Ibiam airport, Enugu, have every reason to be happy at the re-opening of the facility a few days ago. The airport, now upgraded to an international status, had been shut down for more than ten months so that refurbishing work could take place.

While the airport was in disuse Enugu-bound passengers had to endure the routing of their flights through the much smaller Sam Mbakwe airport in Owerri. They would then drive another three hours to Enugu through a federal highway that is in shambles. For most part the journey by road to or from Owerri was like running a gauntlet between armed robbers and kidnappers. Many paid dearly while the closure of the Enugu airport lasted. However, as the saying goes, all is well that ends well.


The reopening of the airport following the expansion of the runway is a welcome development. The Akanu Ibiam airport is one of the oldest in the country. Years of neglect had, however, left the facility in a less-than-befitting state. Not only were the run ways not long enough for international flights, even the departure and arrival lounges had become utterly seedy, lacking some of the basic facilities that standard airports are known for all over the world. News of the upgrading of the airport was understandably therefore well received by most people who use the facility regularly.


As an international airport, the Akanu Ibiam facility is expected to be equipped with modern facilities to enable travelers flying out of the country to take off from Enugu without having to go to Lagos, Abuja or even the Port Harcourt international airport. That it took so long to upgrade the airport is one of those ironies of the Nigerian state. A survey of foreign trips made by Nigerians over the past decade, for instance, indicates that a good deal of it involves people from the Southeast who would have loved to take off straight from Enugu. Yet they had to fly first into some other city before they could catch an overseas flight. Such circumnavigation! Now that the airport has been upgraded to an international status it must live up to the billing in terms of the amount of facilities available there.

Expanding the runways is not enough. Attention also needs to be paid to other operational facilities that conduce to safety. One that cannot wait is the completion of work on the facilities that would enable airplanes take off and land in the night. We hear that right now that cannot happen because the installation of the necessary facilities is yet to be completed.

The airport's terminal building also needs expansion and more modern restrooms. The existing ones are hardly befitting of an international airport. The hope of the users of the Akanu Ibiam international airport is that the airport will match the best anywhere.

For most of them, the upgrading of the airport is prayer answered. The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) must not disappoint them. All that needs to be done to make the airport truly international should be provided. Already some of the foreign carriers are reported to have expressed their preference to originate and terminate their flights in Nigeria from Enugu because of the high volume of their passengers that come from that region. That will be good for not only the prospective passengers but also for FAAN. Let nothing therefore stand in the way of the airport. By and large, we expect the federal government to also upgrade more Nigerian airports to international status.


https://www.nairaland.com/575467/some-foreign-carriers-plan-originate

First, if some airlines have expressed a preference for operating from Enugu, then surely it would make sense for those airlines to be given routes from Enugu.

Second, if the writer has done his home work diligently, then some sort of quantitative survey should have been conducted to support the position about the origins of travellers. Surely that would have been more credible than 'a good deal of it involves people from the Southeast'.

@Post

Ok, so let's look at things objectively here; something that most forumites here are refusing to do because they have been blinded by their own bigotry. If there is no more room/landing space at the international airports in Abuja and Lagos, then some international airlines must be redirected to other international airports within the country. I mean, it does not go any other way. All airports around the world including Nigeria have a maximum landing capacity. Once that capacity has been reached, other airports must be utilized.

Can you imagine if all foreign airlines flying into america all wanted to land at JFK international airport in New York and Dulles international airport in washington DC only? Don't you think that after a while, some requests for landing space will have to be denied if there is too much congestion at these airports while other airports around the USA barely have any traffic?

I mean sometimes, Nigerians must learn to put aside tribal sentiments and see things from an unbiased point of view. Are you aware that planes can crash into each other and cause fatalities if an international airport is too congested and landing spaces are not sufficient? When that happens, the same Nigerians will come on nairaland shouting and blaming the government and corruption.

It seems most Nigerians don't know what they truly want. As a people you complain when your leaders are not working and you complain when they are working. Isn't that pathetic? Lastly, am I the only one noticing that northern leaders never have anything good to say about this current administration and her leaders all because they (northerners) are currently not in aso rock? I didn't see northern leaders complaining bitterly over every little thing when Yaradua was president and went missing in action leaving Turai his wife at the helm of Nigeria's affairs. Nigerian leaders and her followers cannot seem to agree on anything nowadays but then wonder why you have sections of the country that are looking to secede from Nigeria. Sigh!

Katsumoto:

First, if some airlines have expressed a preference for operating from Enugu, then surely it would make sense for those airlines to be given routes from Enugu.

Second, if the writer has done his home work diligently, then some sort of quantitative survey should have been conducted to support the position about the origins of travellers. Surely that would have been more credible than 'a good deal of it involves people from the Southeast'.

The onus is on you to prove the claim wrong.
From all indication, Igbos use the Nigerian International airports the most. You only need to take a seat at the lobby of those airports for one week and take a tally. The volume of international traders from Aba and Onitsha alone trounces travellers from certain sections of Nigeria put together.

FSU:

The onus is on you to prove the claim wrong.
From all indication, Igbos use the Nigerian International airports the most. You only need to take a seat at the lobby of those airports for one week and take a tally. The volume of international traders from Aba and Onitsha alone trounces travellers from certain sections of Nigeria put together.

No, the onus is not on me to prove anything.

You want to convince others, then you supply credible data not the piece of amateur writing that you did.

What does 'a good deal of it involves people from the Southeast' mean? 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, etc

When you say you conducted a survey, then you should supply the results without being asked for it.

Katsumoto:

No, the onus is not on me to prove anything.

You want to convince others, then you supply credible data not the piece of amateur writing that you did.

What does 'a good deal of it involves people from the Southeast' mean? 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, etc

When you say you conducted a survey, then you should supply the results without being asked for it.

Those Igbo importers and exporters (traders) you guys love to deride, you think they[b] swim[/b] to China, Korea, Belgium, Dubai, Brazil and other places to negotiate and buy their goods? When they provide data you guys will still argue that it was an Igbo who did the study . You are not satisfiable, and there is really no point even trying to satisfy you. Take the info or leave it; no one cares.

FSU:

Those Igbo importers and exporters (traders) you guys love to deride, you think they[b] swim[/b] to China, Korea, Belgium, Dubai, Brazil and other places to negotiate and buy their goods? When they provide data you guys will still argue that it was an Igbo who did the study . You are not satisfied and there is really no point even trying to satisfy you. Take the info or leave it; no one cares.

I suppose you are right; only Igbo traders travel internationally.

Katsumoto:

I suppose you are right; only Igbo traders travel internationally.

Volume, my friend, volume. How many non-Igbo traders are there in Nigeria compared to the Igbo ones?
Go to Alaba and other markets all over Nigeria that deal on international (read imported) goods (we are not talking of amala and ewedu) and see who is there.

Katsumoto:

No, the onus is not on me to prove anything.

And yes, the onus is on you to disprove the claim. If you insist something is wrong, you have to show how, and then make it right. The writer was not trying to convince you. He was stating his own facts which I also know to be true.

Katsumoto:

Are you now suggesting that International flights go to Asaba as well as Enugu and Port Harcourt?

The use of an airport matters, that's what determines what kind of logistics to employ. You can't compare International with state/village travellers.

So now PH airport is fully subscribed? I guess the debate determines whether PH airport and seaports are fully utilized.

My guess is that some Igbo folks just want an international airport in Alaigbo regardless of whether the demand can support it.

If you want to upgrade Asaba or Enugu, then you have to downgrade PH but you have to make a compelling viable case for it.

All airlines want to make money and if the demand is there to have 10 airports in Alaigbo, airlines will seize on it.

I don't believe the demand currently exists; if you think otherwise, then present your case.

bros you dey craze o. Who dey do buying and selling business pass for nigeria? You know the answer. So does it not means that the igbos travel more than any other ethnic group in nigeria? Please use your brain cos i don't have your time

The north and the west know what they fighting for. They know why they are against this plan. They know that by the time we(igbo) have a viable airport and seaport that traffic and rush will reduce in their zones. It has been the plan of successive govt of nigeria to make business unattractive in the east. But thank God for Gej

[quote author=Katsumoto]

There is an international airport at PH (which is in the East) and more flights would operate from there if the demand was there.

quote]

This is written like an ignoramus or a mischief maker. PH is in the South South

FSU:

Volume, my friend, volume. How many non-Igbo traders are there in Nigeria compared to the Igbo ones?
Go to Alaba and other markets all over Nigeria that deal on international (read imported) goods (we are not talking of amala and ewedu) and see who is there.

Agreed many Igbos are traders (even though many more people travel for various other reasons apart from trading) but majority of Igbo businesses are not even located in South East. Like you mentioned Alaba, of what use is the need of Enugu Airport to Igbo businessmen operating in Alaba, Kaduna, Kano and Abuja?

If Enugu route is viable, no minister need to direct the airlines before considering it. Am sure the airlines know the traffic volumes better. Besides the airport has just been re-opened, the minister should allow it gather momentum from local flights 1st, if the volume of local flights is high many of the international airlines will naturally give it considerations.