by Azeez Adeniyi

The Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport will be open for traffic from Tuesday, the Federal Government has confirmed.

Firiehiwot Mekonnen, Ethiopian Airlines’ traffic and sales manager said the airlines will land a brand new Airbus A350-900 to mark the official reopening of the airport.

He told NAN that its aircraft would land in Abuja on its first day of operation from Addis Ababa and would remain on Abuja route.

[Read Also: ABUJA AIRPORT RUNWAY WILL BE READY TWO DAYS AHEAD OF DEADLINE – FAAN]

She said the decision to celebrate the inaugural flight to Abuja was because of the airline’s commitment to the Nigerian market.

According to the manager, the 313-passenger capacity aircraft is expected to land at 11:15 am to be the first aircraft to land at the newly rehabilitated Abuja runway.

“The Ethiopian’s brand new Airbus A350-900 is landing in Abuja airport on Tuesday as the first aircraft to land on the newly rehabilitated runway and first airbus to land in Abuja,” she said.

“From now on, we are going to operate Airbus on Abuja route.”

The airline was the only international carrier that agreed to operate at Kaduna.

Nasir el-Rufai, governor of Kaduna state, had also requested that the airline maintained its Kaduna operation even after the reopening of Abuja airport.

Mokennen told NAN that the airline “is seriously considering the governor’s request”.