Abiodun Inaugurates First Commercial Flight at Gateway International Airport

Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, connected Tuesday, inaugurated the archetypal commercialized formation of the Gateway International Airport, Ilishan Remo.

Valuejet’s aircraft, registration fig 5N-BXS, with 90 passengers connected board, departed the airdrome astatine 10:10 a.m. for Abuja.

Speaking astatine the airdrome located on the Iperu-Ilisan roadworthy successful the Ikenne Local Government Area of the State, the politician said the travel to actualise the airdrome started successful 2021 and was portion of the imaginativeness to supply a well-modelled transport strategy for the State.

He said, “I americium gladsome to beryllium present contiguous to witnesser the inaugural formation of a commercialized craft taking disconnected from Ogun State; this is not similar AI, this is real. Commercial operations are starting from Ogun State successful the beingness of an administration.

“We came present successful 2021; immoderate radical said it was conscionable a photograph op, they said it was conscionable politics, they mocked us, and they said this spot is thing but a dump site. Some adjacent said that we were going to usage this spot arsenic a cattle ranch.

“Some others had this airdrome built connected a PowerPoint, but again, we are present today, and we person seen what tin beryllium achieved erstwhile determination is vision, corporate vision, inclusive vision, inclusive participation, and passionateness and diligence.

“We began operation successful precocious 2021; successful February 2023, this aforesaid Valuejet was the archetypal level to onshore connected this runway; it was a trial formation of our runway. Building an airdrome is 1 thing; having an airdrome go operational is antithetic due to the fact that it is simply a highly regulated industry.”

He emphasised that his medication was determined to person the best-constructed, equipped, and befitting airdrome for the state, noting that isolated from being the nation’s concern capital, the State is blessed with a population, making it the fastest-growing system successful Nigeria today.

The administration’s vision, Governor Abiodun maintained, is supported by respective concern cases, adding that the airdrome is situated successful an Aerotropolis, with galore companies springing up, conscionable arsenic the biggest textile works successful the satellite and the Nigeria Customs Village are located astir the airport.

“It speaks for itself; much radical are coming to live, work, and play successful Ogun State, truthful this airdrome makes sense; it ticks the container of our multimodal transport maestro program wherever we link roads to obstruction to air, and soon, we volition beryllium connected to the sea,” Abiodun added.

He appreciated regulators successful the aviation sector, particularly the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and the Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo, for providing prime supervision for the airport.

Speaking successful an interview, the Speaker of the State’s House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Oludaisi Elemide noted that the airdrome is successful tandem with the dreams of the State’s founding fathers and would service arsenic a model to the extracurricular world.

“I springiness it to the governor. This spot was a garbage dump, but present it is the tract of a world-class airport. I consciousness happy; I consciousness connected apical of the world. There volition beryllium economical gains, and determination volition beryllium comfort, arsenic it volition trim the hassle of going to Lagos to question by air,” the Speaker said.

For his part, the subordinate representing Imeko-Afon-Yewa North astatine the House of Representatives, Hon. Gboyega Nasiru Isiaka, expressed delight that the airdrome has yet travel to stay. He urged industrialists to instrumentality vantage of the accidental and leverage their businesses portion soliciting people’s enactment for the project.

The manager wide of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Captain Chris Ona-Najomo, commended the authorities authorities for keeping religion with each regulatory dictates of the regulatory agencies, conscionable arsenic helium expressed restitution with the project.

He expressed his willingness to further enactment the airdrome wherever necessary, particularly for the takeoff of planetary flights successful the adjacent future.

The managing manager of the Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Farouk Umar, and different officials from the aviation assemblage were astatine the ceremony.