The Ministry of Transport conveyed 1,432 airline passengers by road from Kaduna Airport to Abuja, in the first four days of Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport runway closure.
Another 458 of the passengers were moved from Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja to Kaduna Airport, making a total of 1890 passengers.
Mr James Odaudu, Deputy Director, Press and Public Affairs, Ministry of Transportation, disclosed these figures on Monday.
Odaudu said that the statistics collated by the office of the Minister of State, Aviation, disclosed that 28 passengers, who arrived Kaduna aboard an Ethiopian Airlines aircraft on March 8 were the first to be transported by road to Abuja.
The rest, 1862 passengers were transported between March 9 and 11 when the domestic flight operations commenced.
Hadi Sirika, Minister of State for Aviation said the figures would rise this week, with increasing awareness of the free transport incentive.
The Minister implored air travellers to take advantage of the free transport and 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-a- half hours, to be able to process their boarding at the Kaduna Airport within an hour,” he said. (NAN)
OYS/IFY