Lagos Red Line Extension to Airport Nears Funding Deal

Financing discussions for the planned extension of the Lagos Mass Transit Red Line to Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) have reached an advanced stage, the Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Olubunmi Onabanjo-Kuku, has said.

The project, planned by the Nigerian Government in collaboration with FAAN, will connect the airport’s three terminals to the Red Line as part of the wider MMIA modernisation project.

Speaking as a keynote panellist at the World Aviation Festival in Lisbon, Portugal, Kuku said efforts were ongoing to finalise the project’s financing structure.

“We are actually working on completing the financing of the capital structure for that project,” she said.

According to Kuku, the rail link will improve transport connections between Lagos and the airport, with five stops within the airport serving its terminals and cargo facilities.

“It allows us to connect the city very quickly to the airport with five stops within our airport. It connects our terminals and links our cargo terminals to the last stop,” she said.

She added that the project would involve collaboration between the Lagos State and Nigerian governments.

FAAN outlines airport upgrade plans

On the ongoing modernisation of MMIA, Kuku said the project would improve the airport’s efficiency and make it more passenger-friendly through infrastructure upgrades and the adoption of modern technology.

She noted that Lagos accounts for 68 per cent of Nigeria’s air traffic, while Lagos, Abuja and Kano together handle 80 per cent of passenger traffic.

Kuku said FAAN needed to balance investment in the country’s busiest airports with the needs of other facilities under its management.

She added that safety remained a major factor in determining the agency’s investment priorities, with much of its spending directed towards airside infrastructure and the rehabilitation of major airports.

“In the last three years, we focused on rehabilitating our major airports and the primary international airports,” she said.

Kuku said ongoing projects included runway rehabilitation, resurfacing runway extensions where possible and installing improved airfield lighting systems at two of Nigeria’s six international airports.

Regarding Lagos airport, she said Terminal 1 was undergoing a comprehensive overhaul but would not be expanded.

Instead, the project would focus on improving the terminal’s layout, including immigration and customs facilities, increasing the efficiency of service counters and introducing modern technology to improve passengers’ experiences.

“We’re changing the layout with immigration and customs, the number of counters that you have, making it a lot more passenger-friendly, ensuring that we have modernised technology and infrastructure that makes travel easier for passengers,” she said.