The Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) in conjunction with a private company, Ala Resort Ltd., has concluded arrangements to turn the Akure Airport to an aerotropolis.<\/P>
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The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the resort, Mr Moyosola Niran-Oladunni, stated this in Akure on Monday during a news conference to herald the inauguration of the project.<\/P>
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Niran-Oladunni said that the project would be inaugurated on Tuesday with the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between FAAN and the management of the resort.<\/P>
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The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that an aerotropolis is a metropolitan area developed in and well beyond an airport premises.<\/P>
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It involves the development of an airport based city, with air travel at its core, and surrounded by commercial, educational, entertainment, healthcare and hospitality centres.<\/P>
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Niran-Oladunni explained that the company was bringing ideas that would impact value on the state.<\/P>
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He said the aerotropolis, which would be first of its kind in sub-sahara Africa, would drive lives around the aviation industry.<\/P>
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According to Niran-Oladunni, the resort had begun moves on the aerotropolis since 2017 when experts were invited to assess the airport for its suitability for the project.<\/P>
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He revealed that FAAN had approved the project, which he said, would be constructed in phases including institutional, industrial, commercial and agricultural.<\/P>
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According to him, the aerotropolis will parade institutional zone including sports academy that can host any sport club, which will be built by Emirate Foundation and a medical centre to be built by a U.S. company.<\/P>
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\u201cThe industrial zone will also enable all materials to be used for the construction to be assembled and manufactured in the sector within,\u201d he said.<\/P>
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Niran-Oladunni added that the aerotropolis had the potential to catalyse cargo business in the airport, saying that the airport authority would activate the cargo shed in the airport.<\/P>
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He disclosed that no fewer than 14,000 skilled workers would be engaged by the aerotropolis with the infrastructure facilities gulping N56 billion.<\/P>
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According to him, the project is being developed as a Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) between Ala Resort Ltd. and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).<\/P>
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\u201cAla Resort and aerotropolis will be a sprawling development for which air travel will constitute the driving force and central concept, surrounded by complementary developments of commercial, educational, entertainment, healthcare, hospitality and light industrial centres.<\/P>
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\u201cVice President Yemi Osinbajo is expected to perform the ground-breaking, assisted by the Ondo State governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, and Minister of Aviation, Mr Hadi Sirika,\u201d he said.<\/P>
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Also, the General Manager, Business Development, FAAN Headquarters, Mr Hycinth Ngwu, said the decision was anchored on a PPP geared toward developing an aerotropolis in the airport.<\/P>
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Ngwu assured that the project would be executed as planned and Akure Airport would revolutionise the way the authority generates revenue.<\/P>
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\u201cIt\u2019s in the interest of all stakeholders to support the project. It will increase revenue base of the state and local government.<\/P>
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\u201cCertainly, majority of the employees will come from the locality. They should support it because it will transform to their successes.<\/P>
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\u201cWe intend to replicate this in other airports. We started in Akure because it initially had the largest land mass before being overtaken recently by Abuja Airport,\u201d he said.<\/P>
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The Airport Manager, Akure, Mrs Lynda Ezike, assured that the management and members staff of the airport were expectant and ready to support the proposed unprecedented developmental mega project.<\/P>
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\u201cWe are ready to support Ala Resort Ltd. in ensuring the success of this mega project which is for the betterment of all stakeholders,\u201d she said.<\/P>
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Source: News Agency of Nigeria<\/P>
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The Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) in conjunction with a private company, Ala Resort Ltd., has concluded arrangements to turn the Akure Airport to an aerotropolis.The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the resort, Mr Moyosola Niran-Oladunni,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n