2022: 1000-capacity terminal building of Victor Attah Int’l airport for completion– commissioner
The Victor Attah International Airport new terminal building, which will include a 1000 capacity arrival/departure hall, is expected to be completed in 2022, according to Mr Okpolupm Etteh, Akwa Ibom Commissioner for Special Duties.
Construction of the automated terminal building, designed after Istanbul’s latest airport terminal in Turkey and expected to process one million passengers a year, began in July 2019.
Etteh told journalists during a tour of the airport in Uyo, on Thursday, that when completed, the terminal building would handle both domestic and international flights.
He attributed the delay in the completion of the building to the COVID-19 pandemic that swept across the entire world.
“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.
“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, which 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, and the other way is International. We have Immigration, we have customs, we have duty free shops, everything you have in an international airport,” Etteh said.
Etteh said that the state government was hoping the airport would translate into a hub for aviation operations in the region, with the completion of the Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) section, amongst 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.
“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,” he said.
The commissioner said the airport would soon begin International flights within the sub-region, once the aircraft purchased for the purpose arrived in the state.
Mr Onur Uzel, the Project Manager of VKS Nig. Construction Ltd., the company handling the terminal building project, affirmed that the project was delayed due to COVID-19.
Uzel added that Turkey, where some of the materials for the construction were sourced from, was on lockdown and only recently removed the restrictions on movement caused by the pandemic.
He said that within 12 months the project would be completed, adding that the project would be a landmark for the state and the country.
The project manager said that VKS construction Ltd had been in involved in similar airport constructions in Europe and Africa.
