Courtesy of the recent designation of some of the nation’s airports as cargo airports by the Federal Government, there is now a major increase in cargo movements at various airports across the country. According to Yakubu Dati, spokesman, aviation parastatals, in the third quarter of 2013, a total of 52, 590, 752.65 kilogrammes of cargo was carried through Nigerian airports as against 43, 582, 117.90 in the third quarter of 2012, signifying a 20 per cent growth in 2013.

Dati explained that the Airport Remodeling Project is a key component of the Aviation Master Plan initiated by Stella Oduah, minister of aviation, designed to modernise all the 22 airport terminals in the country towards restructuring them as centre point of economic activity and investor’s destination. “The concept of designating some of these airports as cargo airports was borne out of the need by the federal government to facilitate the exportation of agricultural produce and other perishable goods considering the insecurity on the roads,” said he.