L-R: Olubunmi Kuku, managing director, FAAN; Festus Keyamo, minister of aviation and aerospace development; and Oliver Alawuba, group managing director, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, during the unveiling of the newly refurbished E-Wing departure terminal at Lagos airport on Friday
Sade Williams/Business a.m.
Oliver Alawuba, group managing director of United Bank for Africa (UBA) plc, has reaffirmed the bank’s commitment to fostering and supporting the growth and development of the aviation sector.
Speaking during the commissioning of the newly refurbished E-Wing departure terminal at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos on Friday, he said the organisation’s partnership with the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) in its quest to develop airports infrastructure across the nation, dates back to 22 years ago, adding that in line with it the UBA group is always ready to contribute its quota to the nation’s development through the public private partnership arrangement.
“I think it’s a great day for us, we have been in this partnership for 22 years working with FAAN and improving the infrastructure. This is just an example of what public private partnership can do. You have seen that the minister is committed to improving the infrastructure and [the] government cannot do it alone, so the private sector has to come in and UBA clearly is providing that support as needed at this time. This is just the first phase, we are also going to remodel the D-Wing departure,” he said.
Festus Keyamo, minister of aviation and aerospace development, while commissioning the facility, commended FAAN for its unwavering commitment to delivering exceptional service to Nigerian travellers.
The minister praised the collaborative effort between FAAN and the United Bank for Africa, highlighting this project as part of a series of initiatives aimed at enhancing passenger comfort and entertainment within airport terminals.
“This is part of a general plan by FAAN endorsed by the Ministry, to continue to remodel all of them in partnership with private entities within our limited resources to make them more user-friendly. What we are doing here today is the commissioning of the remodelled E-Wing departure hall of Murtala Muhammed International Airport. You can see what they have done here; our concessionaires have done tremendously well, in partnership with UBA. We want to thank them so much, this is the outcome of the partnership, the new floor, a well lit departure hall, the adverts everywhere. We are going to other wings of the airport, we are going to work on Wing-D,” he said.
Olubunmi Kuku, the managing director and chief executive of FAAN, assured aviation stakeholders of the organisation’s continued focus on improving facilities and services at airports.
She announced plans for additional investments in cooling systems, equipment upgrades, and modernising infrastructure by 2025, underscoring FAAN’s dedication to ensuring that Nigerians take pride in their airport facilities.
Through these ongoing efforts, FAAN aims to create a positive and enjoyable airport experience for all passengers and stakeholders.
“I do want to say that our passenger traffic remains strong. But there may be some economic realities that are affecting global nations but within Nigeria, we are expanding our facilities and planning for the future hence the use of terminal two. We are using terminal D right now, we are moving passengers in here to decongest and look at the arrival time and slot to make effective use of the capacity of the terminal as well as the timing of flights arriving and landing,” she said.
Four environmentally friendly CNG-powered air-conditioned buses were also introduced to improve passenger mobility within the airport premises.
