The Ministry of Transport has conveyed a total number of 1,890 air passengers by road in the first four days from the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport to Kaduna International Airport.

Statistics from the office of the minister of state, Aviation, showed that 28 passengers were transported on the first day on the arrival of Ethiopian Airlines' aircraft; 589, 695 and 578 on the second, third and the fourth day respectively when the domestic flight operations commenced.

A further breakdon of the statistics showed that from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja to Kaduna Airport, a total number of 458 passengers were transported while 1,426 others were transported from Kaduna to Abuja.

The Minister of State, Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, said "The figure is expected to go up this new week due to the rising awareness among passengers."

The minister also implored air passengers to take advantage of the provision and to also arrive early at the Abuja Airport end in order not to miss their flights in Kaduna. "The passengers need to get to Abuja Airport four hours earlier than their scheduled flight, so the buses will bring them within two or two and half hours to be able to process their boarding at Kaduna Airport within an hour," he explained.

Meanwhile, Senator Hadi Sirika is making consultation with the office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) on the decision to ban helicopter shuttle service from Kaduna to Abuja, it was learnt.

The NSA, Babagana Munguno, had in a memo banned the helicopter shuttle service, saying "Air travellers will be required to travel by road/train to Abuja".

However, this decision jolted helicopter companies which had seen business boom in the closure with the operations of shuttle service for the high net worth individuals.

Bristow Nigeria Limited, Maple Aviation Logistics, among others had planned helicopter shuttle service during the closure.