FG hands Port Harcourt airport to a private operator for 30 years — second major airport concession in five months

Photo: Port Harcourt International Airport terminal · Photo: Masssly, CC BY-SA 4.0 (FILE PHOTO, Sep 2023)

A second international airport privatised in five months — the government's airport programme is now visibly moving, and the question is whether private operators deliver better airports or just collect the revenue.

The Federal Government signed a 30-year concession agreement on Thursday, 12 November, in Abuja, transferring the management and development of the Jeremiah Obafemi Awolowo International Airport, Port Harcourt, to Port Harcourt Airport Company Ltd (under R28 Holdings Ltd).

Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development Festus Keyamo signed for the government; Eyo Asuquo, Group Managing Director of PH Airport Ltd, signed for the concessionaire. Keyamo said the move aims to halt the practice of using profits from busy airports to subsidise loss-making ones, and that the concessionaire will face performance reviews every five years and can lose the airport if it fails to meet agreed standards.

The concession has the approval of President Tinubu and the Federal Executive Council. The airport remains a Federal Government asset — this is not a sale.

It follows the concession of Enugu's Akanu Ibiam International Airport in June 2026 (to Aero Alliance Ltd), and the government says it has received concession proposals for Benin and Yola airports. Previous attempts to concession airports were stalled by labour resistance and court cases. Asuquo pledged to raise the airport to international standards, retain existing staff and create jobs.

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