Aside Lagos and Abuja, no other airport in the country attracts passengers due to the fact that the bulk of international operations are done at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos and the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, thereby rendering many of the refurbished international airport terminals redundant.
The situation equally brings to question the rationale for engaging in airport remodelling simultaneously in all the airports across the country.
Until the mid-1990s, the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA) was the second-most active airport in Nigeria.
At the time, more than half of the international flights into the country chose Kano as either the final destination, a transit point or stopover field. International airlines like British Caledonian, KLM, Iberia and Saudi Air favoured the airport not only because of its safety record, but also because its handling facilities ensured a quick turnaround.
Kabo Air, Nigeria Airways, Okada Air and other domestic carriers had at least three daily flights into Kano. The airport was vibrant and the activities there improved Kano State’s Gross Domestic Product. Garment traders from the northern part of the country, whose imported Dutch-waxed clothes entered Nigeria through the airport, kept Nigerian customs and immigration service officers busy.
While Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos was notorious for surging touts that overcrowded the entrance to the terminal’s building, Mallam Aminu Kano airport’s entrance was well managed with a systematic boarding pattern. Until 1999 at least 40 flights operated in and out of Kano. Read more here
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