The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria says it plans to decongest the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
This is as the agency said the new terminal at the MMIA, Lagos, would be inaugurated soon.
The agency in charge of airports across the country said it had commenced discussions with airlines to divert some of their traffic to airports outside Lagos, especially to the newly constructed terminals.
According to FAAN, this will help to put the new terminals in Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa and the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja to maximum use.
The General Manager, Corporate Affairs of FAAN, Mrs Henrietta Yakubu, told journalists that Lagos would, however, remain the hub of airports in the country, adding that rather than congest the airport, airlines could also make use of facilities in other aerodromes across the country.
Yakubu said Turkish Airlines and Emirates had indicated their readiness to commence scheduled flight operations from Port Harcourt and Abuja, respectively from June, while Air Peace would also begin direct flights to Dubai from PHIA as from April this year.
She stated that Cronos Air was currently operating three weekly frequencies from Port Harcourt while Lufthansa Airlines and Air France both had four and five flights per week respectively, from the same airport.
She added that Air Cote d’Ivoire would commence direct flights from Abuja to its base in Abidjan soon.
