By Francis Igata
ENUGU—The Nigerian Aviation Handling Company, NAHCO, has announced plans to cause the freight of N60billion worth of cargo to Enugu and other states in the South-East geopolitical zone through Akanu Ibiam International Airport where the new customs-bonded cargo warehouse was inaugurated last Thursday. Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State who played host to the management team of the handling company, ahead of the event, affirmed his administration’s readiness to assist any organization willing to establish business in Enugu for economic transformation and employment generation in the state. The development, according to the aviation handling company, is such that the volume of cargo to be hauled directly from abroad to the Enugu axis would be some 20% of the total volume normally freighted to Lagos.
Ugwuanyi assured the team of the state government’s cooperation and assistance required for it to operate in Enugu State. He said: “We are ready and willing to offer you all the cooperation and assistance required to sustain the successful and effective operation in Enugu”. Ugwuanyi noted that since the establishment of the company, it had been a major player in the nation’s aviation sector, handling about 70% of foreign and domestic airlines operating in the country. He added that the company had now become more influential with an expanded financial and economic base, following its privatization in 2005 and entry into the stock exchange in 2006.Earlier in an address, the leader of the team and chairman of the organization, Alhaji SulemanYahaya, informed the governor that the company had brought a major development to Enugu.
He also informed the governor that it had been scheduled that he would commission the largest cargo warehouse in eastern Nigeria. Yahaya said: ‘’We estimate that about 60 billion naira worth of cargo which is about 20% of the entire cargo in Lagos is earmarked for the five eastern states with a lot of them finding their ways to Enugu, Onitsha, Aba and Umuahia. “When the past administration decided to upgrade the Enugu Airport to International standard, we decided to be the first to support operations in the airport. We have already done a lot of test run with Ethiopian Airlines for 6 months and a number of International airline are ready to come in.”
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/09/aviation-coy-plots-n60bn-inflow-worth-of-freight-cargo-for-s-east/
