FAAN to relocate businesses from Port Harcourt airport

The management of Port Harcourt International Airport has finalized plans to relocate concessionaires and other small businesses from the operational zones of the domestic wing.

Ngozi Onyeanwunna-Nwosu, the airport's Public Relations Officer, made the announcement to reporters in Port Harcourt on Wednesday.

She explained that unauthorized business activities within the operational zones were contributing to the emergence of makeshift structures at the facility, necessitating a comprehensive overhaul.

Onyeanwunna-Nwosu clarified that the relocation aims to enhance the airport's environment, refuting claims of disrupting thriving businesses, as speculated by some resistance to change.

“Though the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) reserves the right to make policies that will enhance its operations, it has always prioritised public interest in all its implementation,” she said.

The airport spokesperson explained that the relocation was part of management’s efforts to enhance serenity, security and standards within operational areas.

She noted that the airport authority duly notified all affected business operators about the planned relocation since November 2023.

“We actually relocated them to a better place because FAAN always operates with a human face. We also care about businesses within the airport, so we request affected operators to go there and pick up their shop spaces.

“We also gave them a deadline that expires in March, so how have we wronged them,” she said.

Meanwhile, some of the affected operators said that the distance from their target customers, mostly passengers and acquaintances, will undermine smooth business activities at the proposed new site.

Mark Tammy, a food vendor at the airport, said that many of his customers would find it difficult to patronise him at the proposed site because the new place was far from the domestic waiting area.

“Business thrives when customers who wait for clients stop over to patronise us; relocating away from a strategic position will slow down business patronage,” he said.

Also, Janette Ikem, a computer operator at the premises, said that the relocation would further aggravate hardships for affected individuals, considering the present state of the country’s economy.

“Things are very difficult now; how will you want us to relocate to that distance without makeshift stalls? This means that they are indirectly forcing us to build new stalls for ourselves,” she said.

All shanties around the cargo and other areas within the airport had remained sealed from trespassers.