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THE Federal Government has given approval-in-principle for a multi-million dollar mono-rail for the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (NMIA) to provide seamless transfer to the newly built terminal.

Managing Director of Bi-Courtney Aviation Services, operators of the new domestic terminal, Murtala Mohammed two (MM2) Mr. Alex Van Elk said this at a briefing on the activities of the operators one year after the terminal was opened to the public.

The mono-rail is expected to ease traffic on the ever busy Lagos airport access road which has become problematic of late, and is expected to help movement of passengers who are transiting through the MMA2.

Van Elk said the regulatory body, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) was already studying the environment to make sure it does not distort the plans of the airport.

The project is in focus. We want to make Lagos a major hub. We are consulting with the NCAA and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) on this. We have filed papers in that regard. We have received approval to start the light rail system to connect to all the terminals, and we will soon start," he said.

Speaking on the passenger traffic recorded so far at the terminal, Elk put the traffic figures at between 90 and 95 monthly, while the annual figures was put at 1.5 million.

He added, however, that the terminal has capacity to handle over four million passengers annually.

"We are changing and expanding our infrastructure in preparation for the take-off of regional operation. Regional operation has not taken off because of the changes. Our architects are working with the NCAA to see how this can be achieved both in the interest of airlines and passengers,” he added.

He said efforts were also being made towards the expansion of facilities on ground, most especially with the expected passenger growth within the next few years.

On whether government should continue to encourage the public private partnership in infrastructure development, said it was something happening everywhere, admitting that it was motivated by investments of which government funds would no longer go into.

"There are a lot of efforts to put a terminal up to shape. The government can spend the resources on better things. Talking of Nigeria, housing, education, energy are more pressing issues for government. The other thing is that the company is coming on a commercial basis with a lot of know-how. If you don't know your job, you will never run a profitable place. For airport, a specialist should come in," he noted.