She said this while receiving the Governor of Plateau State, Mr Caleb Mutfwang, at the Yakubu Gowon Airport, Jos.

The MD/CE of FAAN who led top management staff to the meeting, described the state as rich in agrarian products worthy of trade locally and globally.

She demonstrated the Authority’s readiness to collaborate with the state government in setting up its cargo terminal.

Still, she advised that the state should not wait for major infrastructure before it can benefit from selling and marketing its farm products.

“Your Excellency, Plateau State is poised to stand as one of Nigeria’s leaders in producing and transporting agricultural products,” she said. “My team is willing to work very closely with you and the expanded aviance cargo team. While we may need to put up some major cargo infrastructure, I don’t think we need to wait. I will suggest that we make this modular. Let’s start within our immediate environments. We can start marketing some of your perishable items and creating market days when we invite people from across the country to fly in and buy these products. That will spur those who are willing to invest in testing, packaging, crating, storing and transporting these produce all across the country. The possibilities are endless.”

The Governor thanked Mrs Kuku for FAAN’s enthusiasm for the cargo business and promised to push on until the state’s ambitions are met.

The MD/CE spent the rest of her visit to the Jos Airport on a tour of the facilities and had a fruitful engagement with the staff.

Similarly, Capt. Okakpu said Emirates flights do not threaten the operations of Air Peace’s flight.

Speaking to Techeconomy’s correspondent, he said: “The truth is, the resumption of Emirates flight into the Nigeria Airspace would not threaten Air Peace airline operation.

However, it will positively affect the Nigeria air cargo business.  This is because a lot of cargo   would come from far the Eastern part of the world into Nigeria, so it would be easier for Emirates Airline to bring those cargoes to Nigeria.

According to him,

“The coming back of Emirates Airlines to the Nigeria space is laudable. Because a lot of Nigeria goes to India, Indian sub-continent and Asia, it will serve as a better connection for them.

Recall that yesterday, Adnan Kazim, Emirates’ deputy president and chief commercial officer disclosed that Emirates will resume daily flights to Nigeria on October 1, 2024.

“The Lagos-Dubai service has traditionally been popular with customers in Nigeria and we hope to reconnect leisure and business travelers to Dubai and onwards to our network of over 140 destinations.”

“We thank the Nigerian government for their partnership and support in re-establishing this route and we look forward to welcoming passengers back on board.”

Accordingly, “with the resumption of operations to Nigeria, Emirates operates to 19 gateways in Africa with 157 flights per week from Dubai, with further reach to an additional 130 regional points in Africa through its code share and interline partnerships with South African Airways, Airlink, Royal Air Maroc, Tunis Air, among others.”

Capt. Okakpu, however noted that Nigerians who shuttle between Nigeria and London, would have a good deal with Nigeria Air Peace Airline, because in just 6 hours they would have gotten to London through Air Peace direct flight, against 9 to 10 hours obtainable elsewhere.

“But to London, it’s definitely not good at all, you don’t want to fly 9-hours going somewhere and fly another 10 hours going another way, for a journey that is like 6 hours. That is why Air Peace is actually competing”.

“Because, they must first take you to their country, before they take you to London. So, a lot of people don’t understand that Turkish Airways, for instance, will take you to Turkey first and most of the time they will mistreat you there for being a Nigerian.

“So, why don’t you just jump into a flight that in six hours you get to your destination. For instance, I heard about a lady who spent 24-Hours, just to catch a flight that was not worth it!!”

“So, if you go to London using Emirates Airlines, it will take you about two days to get there. The truth is the resumption of Emirates Airline back into the Nigeria Airspace would not threaten Air Peace Airline.

However, it will positively affect the Nigeria Cargo business. This is because a lot of cargo   would come in from the Eastern part of the world into Nigeria, so it would be easier for Emirates Airline to bring those cargoes to Nigeria.

“Cargo from Europe, for instance, can take up to three to six days. So, on a cargo side, Nigeria stands to benefit as it [Emirates] will increase the capacity of Cargo coming in.

“Many cargo airlines don’t come to Nigeria any longer, because of the state of the economy. Only Turkish Airlines comes, once in a while. Once upon a time, cargos came into Nigeria four times in a week, but now they hardly come.

The likes of Emirates, Saudi Air Cargo, used to come like three times in a week, but now, they don’t even come at all.

“When you see cargoes being collected at the Airport, most of them go underbelly, and airlines are skeptical about it, because most of the time they carry agricultural products, and once there is contamination on arrival, the goods will be destroyed.

If that is done, the concern airline will bear the cost of destruction, and that is why there are lots of cargoes on British Airways going to London, they are not carrying them because of contamination.

These contamination are caused by Nigerian government agencies especially NDLEA, NAFDAC and others, because of the ways and manners they inspect goods.

“So, the resumption of Emirates Airlines to the Nigeria airspace, will be of immense benefit to the Nigerian Cargo business, it is however not advisable for those travelling through the Air to the Europe

“It will also positively affect   those travelling to places such as: Australia, Japan and the far Eastern part of the world.  “But the question is, if you are travelling to London, would you rather go to the UAE, get a visa and later get a flight? While with Air Peace you can just get your flight and go.

“Because the coming of Air Peace in the Aviation industry has really saved the Nigeria Aviation Industry and shaken it to the foundation.”

Meanwhile, Emirates Airline said upon resumption of its services to Nigeria from 1 October 2024, it will deploy a Boeing 777-300ER.

EK783 will depart Dubai at 0945hrs, arriving in Lagos at 1520hrs; the return flight EK784 will leave Lagos at 1730 hrs and arrives in Dubai at 0510hrs the next day.

The brand-new deep-water port that is now being built is called the Lekki Port, situated in Lagos State’s Lekki Free Trade Zone. The port is being built as a component of a bigger initiative to strengthen Nigeria’s economy and infrastructure.

The port will be able to handle huge vessels, and it is anticipated that it will significantly improve trade and commerce in the nation.

Boosting the Economy

The project (Lekki deep-sea port) is anticipated to boost regional economic growth and provide thousands of new jobs.

The port is also anticipated to draw foreign investment and aid in the diversification of the Nigerian economy.

However, because the port will accommodate large vessels and improve the effectiveness of cargo handling, it is also anticipated to expand trade and commerce within the nation.

In terms of how much the port will generate, there have been lots of projections. It is difficult to predict because it will depend on a number of variables, including the volume of trade, the effectiveness of cargo handling, the success of the broader project, etc.

Revenue Projection

The Lekki Port is a major success story for public-private partnerships in infrastructure development in Nigeria, according to the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) of Nigeria, and is anticipated to have a $461 billion economic impact over the course of 45 years.

The Nigerian Government owns 5%, Lagos Government 20% and Lekki Port Investment Holding Inc. owns 75% through the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV- Lekki Port LFTZ Enterprise Limited).

The economic impact would be revenue from duties, royalties, and taxes of $201 billion and a direct and indirect business impact of $158 billion.

ICRC said it expects over $361bn economic impact expected in 45 years. “ Land Area – 90 Hectares, Concession Term- 45 years, First Deep Sea Port in Nigeria and Deepest Port in West Africa.

“A multipurpose Port which has 3 Container berths, 3 Liquid, and 1 Dry Bulk Berth

“Concession Model: Build, Own, Operate, and Transfer (BOOT). Economic Impact and Project Cost: They added the project had a cost of $1.5 billion in assets and $800 million on construction in all phases.

“$361 billion (Revenue from duties, royalties, taxes $201bn, Direct/Indirect business impact: $158bn).”