The Delta State government has signed a concession agreement with Asaba Airport company to manage and run the Asaba Airport for the next 30 years. The agreement is coming after five years of negotiations between the parties involved in the concession. The negotiation started in 2016 when the current Governor of Delta State , Dr Ifeanyi Okowa indicated his intention to concession the airport for better management. The Asaba Airport Company Limited, the concessionaire, is a consortium that has technical partners as sub-concessionaires. They are Air Peace as the Anchor Airline and MRO operator, Multifreight Cargo and Logistics for the cargo and Logistics centre, Arbico Construction Company to build the Business Park, Hotel and Convention Centre, Rainoil Limited and Cybernetic Limited to develop the Tank Farm and provide aviation fuel, and Quorum Aviation Limited to develop the private jet and Helicopter Terminal of the airport.
Speaking about the agreement and how it was arrived at , the Chairman of the Delta State government Asaba International Airport Concession Committee, Mr Chiedu Evie, who is also the Secretary to the State government, said , ” The Delta State government is delighted that after an extensive bid process, which spanned a period of five years, with two major consortia emerging in the last round of bidding process, the FIDC-Menzies Consortium was selected as the prefered bidder to operate as the Master Concessionaire”
“FIDC is an emerging and fast growing Nigerian building, construction and civil engineering company. Menzies on the other hand is one of the biggest airports operators in the world. It operates in over 200 airports around the world, showing dominance in most major airports in the United Kingdom, United States of America, Europe and South Africa.”
Meanwhile the Governor of Delta State, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa while delivery his speech at the signing ceremony revealed that the Concessionaire will ” pay an annual fees of 100 million naira to the state while the agreement last. They will also pay an initial sum of 1billion ( One Billion naira ) to the state government hours after the agreement is signed.” Governor Okowa who enumerated other benefits of the concession of the airport to the people of Delta State praised the efforts of the Airport Concession Committee for making his vision for the airport a reality.
