The decision of Anambra State government to construct another airport has come under severe criticisms, with many describing it as a misplaced priority.

The backlash comes nine months after the state government dismissed reports of a proposed airport in Ndikelionwu, Orumba North Local Government Area, barely 60 kilometres by road from the existing Chinua Achebe International Airport in Umueri.

On September 11, 2025, the state’s Commissioner for Information, Dr Law Mefor, said the rumours emerged after a visit to the Anambra Mixed-Use Industrial City, AMIC, with some people assuming that the industrial park would require its own airport.

Mefor clarified that no decision had been taken on whether to build a railway or an airport to serve AMIC, and any such decision would be communicated through the appropriate official channels.

However, in June 2026, government’s position changed when Mefor said the Anambra State government would expand its aviation infrastructure with the construction of a second airport as part of Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s long-term economic development strategy aimed at transforming the state into a major aviation and industrial hub.

Speaking in a video interview, he said the airport would become a key component of the Aerotropolis City project under the Soludo administration Solution 2.0 agenda and the state’s Vision 2070 development blueprint.

According to Mefor, the Aerotropolis City is being developed as an aviation-driven industrial and commercial hub, making the construction of another airport essential to support its projected growth.

He said: “There will be a second airport in Anambra. We are already working on it, and in the next one to two years, flights will begin operating from the new airport and aviation activities will commence.”

Just few days ago, he also told one of the national newspapers that “the new airport, as an aerotropolis, will service not just Anambra, but the entire South-East. Even though every other state has its own airport, this one is so centrally located that a part of Enugu, in fact, almost the entirety of Abia, a part of Imo, will find the second airport more proximate than the ones in their own states. The viability is just there, and the long-term need for it makes it even more viable.”

First airport

Though the state government says a second airport is needed to drive Anambra long-term economic and industrial ambitions, the potential facility has also raised questions about the performance and utilisation of Chinua Achebe International Airport, formerly Anambra State International Cargo Airport, which only began commercial operations less than five years ago.

On April 11, 2017, Anambra State government officially launched the construction of the airport. Ex-Governor Willie Obiano inaugurated the facility on October 30, 2021, and on December 2, 2021, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, gave approval for the commencement of commercial operations, which began on December 7, 2021.

In its first month of operations, the airport handled 142 flights and 3,865 passengers.

Five years later, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the airport, Mr Martin Nwafor, disclosed that the facility had recorded a total 8,624 commercial and private flights, and over 600,000 passengers.

Even with those figures, Nwafor urged Anambra indigenes to patronise the airport instead of using facilities in neighbouring states.

Lamenting the situation in January, he said: “We are calling on Ndi Anambra, who we know as largely business-oriented, to make use of this airport provided and maintained for their benefit by the state government.

“I don’t see why the state would have a facility like this, while the majority of our citizens patronise airports in other States, thereby boosting other states’ revenue and improving their infrastructure. Let us use what we have.”

Air passengers

With this situation in mind, experts argue that any proposal to build a new airport should be viewed against the realities of Nigeria’s air transport market, where passenger traffic remains quite low despite the large population.

Nigeria has a population of about 220 million people, yet only about 17.94 million passenger movements by air in 2025, meaning fewer than 10 per cent of Nigerians used air transport during the year.

Also, across the country, there are over 20 airports, but only four, including Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Kano, are regarded by experts as commercially viable, accounting for the bulk of passenger traffic.

In fact, the situation has been made worse by declining passenger numbers in recent years. For instance, in a recent interview, Trustee of the Airline Operators of Nigeria, AON, Roland Iyayi, disclosed that an analysis of data from FAAN, NCAA and the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, showed that Nigeria’s air transport sector has recorded an average annual decline of about 10 per cent in passenger traffic since 2021, mainly due to the persistent rise in airfares.

Saturday Vanguard recalls that air fares on some of the country’s busiest routes, which averaged N45,000 in 2023, now exceed N100,000, forcing many Nigerians to opt for alternative means of transportation, especially road.

Stakeholders’ insights

Those realities have strengthened the views of critics, who believe the state’s resources should be directed towards improving the existing airport rather than constructing another one, especially as neighbouring states such as Imo, Delta and Enugu also operate airports.

Speaking to Saturday Vanguard, aviation analyst, Mr Chris Aligbe, described the potential airport as a misplaced priority and a waste of public funds.

The Chief Executive Officer of Belujane Konzult said: “It is this penchant for ego, so that people can attribute the project to him. The governor should invest in Chinua Achebe International Airport and make it worthwhile because, as it stands, it is not.

“The distances within Anambra State are so short that there is no need for another airport. The current airport is not up to standard, and I doubt the new one will be either. So, there is simply no need for it.

“Their argument does not hold. There is no justification. Umueri has vast land around the existing airport. How long would it take to develop an aerotropolis there? They should look at airports in Umueri and Ebonyi and assess their performance, yet they want to build another airport. It does not make any sense to any discerning person in the aviation sector. They should channel the money into developing the existing airport instead.”

Also speaking to Saturday Vanguard, former commandant of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, Group Captain John Ojikutu, retd, said: “What is the business plan for that airport? Anambra has an airport already. Is the airport for cargo or passengers? The airports in Imo, Enugu and Delta states are less than one hour to Anambra, and I am not sure all their passengers put together are up to five million a year. My experience in this industry is that all these plans come quarter to go.”

Self-interest

Beyond concerns over economic viability, some stakeholders are of the view that political considerations may be driving the decision.

An indigene of the state and a good governance advocate, Mr Kingsley Ubani, attributed the decision to what he described as self-interest and the governor’s desire to site the facility in his own region of the state.

Speaking recently on a television programme, Ubani lamented that the state’s current airport is underutilised, saying instead of improving the capacity, the state governor is building a new one.

He said: “Incidentally, this new airport is being built in his region of the state. I am very worried because this is a state where senior civil servants earn barely N100,000. It is a state where it is difficult for graduates to find meaningful and gainful employment.

“There are so many things that are going to give way to this project. Everybody is worried that we are just wasting money to build a new airport that will cost over N60 billion when we could channel the resources into other areas such as healthcare, education and job creation.

“The current airport is in Anambra North, where the former governor is from. Currently, the governor is building one in his region. The message he is sending is that the next governor, which will come from central (because Anambra has a rotation agreement), will have to build one in Anambra Central. At the end of the day, Anambra State may just become an airport state.” (Saturday Vanguard)

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