The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has announced the temporary closure of Enugu airport for emergency runway repairs, impacting the operations of at least four airlines.
In a statement on April 18, FAAN said the airport would be closed between April 22 and May 6 to repair "a sudden and significant rupture in the asphalt surface at a critical section of the runway". All flights will be diverted to nearby airports.
According to ch-aviation capacities data, airlines operating to Enugu include Ethiopian Airlines and domestic carriers Air Peace, Ibom Air, and United Nigeria Airlines. Air Peace will be the most severely affected, holding almost a 55% market share at the airport in terms of weekly airline seats, followed by Ibom Air with just over 26%, Ethiopian with close on 12%, and United Nigeria with just over 7%.
Domestic routes affected include to Abuja and Lagos, plus international services to Asaba.
Air Peace, in a statement, confirmed it had temporarily suspended flights to Enugu, noting that the state of the runway had been "causing major disruptions" to its flights. All Enugu flights will be diverted to Asaba, Owerri, and Anambra. The flight changes are free-of-charge, the airline noted, warning against "certain individuals" who are exploiting the temporary closure of Enugu "to rip off unsuspecting passengers".
Ethiopian Airlines issued a notice to the travel trade that its flights to Enugu are suspended until May 6. In a similar notice, Ibom Air said it would resume services to Enugu on May 7.
United Nigeria Airlines, which is based at Enugu, said it had diverted all its Enugu flights to Anambra pending the completion of the repair works.
Proposals to concession the airport (alongside four others) are under review to improve standards, though no timeline has been finalised, reported The Sun Nigeria.
The airport, with a single asphalt runway of 3,000 metres, serves Enugu, the regional capital, and neighbouring cities like Abakaliki, Awka, Onitsha, and Owerri as well as parts of Cross River, Benue, and Kogi states.
