Banditry: Kaduna-Abuja air shuttle services to begin operation soon – El-Rufai
NEWS DIGEST – Kaduna State Government on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Quorum Aviation Ltd, QAL, to operate air shuttle services to Abuja and Lagos.
News Digest reports that a lot of passengers are avoiding the notorious Abuja-Kaduna expressway due to high rate of kidnapping on the route.
Train services are not adequate as passengers usually get stranded in the train stations.
According to the MoU, the company would run at least five shuttle flights daily under the trade name BOKU AIR.
Governor Nasiru El-Rufai said after the signing ceremony that it was an expression of the company’s confidence in the government.
He believed that the air shuttle service would complement the Kaduna-Abuja rail service.
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“I am very confident that it will be viable, hence, I am calling on all the people in Kaduna State, particularly businessmen and women that are interested in transacting businesses in Abuja to take advantage of this service which began from road transport, to rail and now air transport.
“We thank QAL for exploring this opportunity and taking up this challenge. We are handing over our terminal building which we constructed and equipped at our own cost,” he said.
The Managing Director, QAL, Lukman Lawal, said company would deploy two 50-seater business jets to provide a minimum of five daily shuttle passenger services at an affordable price specifically between Abuja, Kaduna and Lagos.
Lawal said the air shuttle service will be a great complement to the train service currently running between Kaduna and Abuja.
He stated that Kaduna government is leasing the lounge at the Kaduna airport to the company for a period of ten years.
“To enable QAL renovate and fix the terminal to meet regulatory requirements before commencement of the shuttle services, the lease shall take effect three months after its execution”.
NAN
