KADUNA: Nigeria's capital was cut off by air on Wednesday, as Abuja airport closed for at least six weeks for epairs, forcing flights to divert and lengthening travel times for passengers.
Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport shut to all domestic and international flights from midnight (2300 GMT Tuesday), pending the start of long overdue work to resurface its potholed runway.
An Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 787 from Addis Ababa, which ordinarily would have landed in Abuja, instead touched down in Kaduna, some 190 kilometres (120 miles) to the north.
Fire service tenders gave a traditional water-cannon salute as it taxied to a standstill on the apron. Passengers said the landing was hitch-free.
Ethiopian Airlines is the only foreign carrier to switch routes to Kaduna. Others, including British Airways, Air France, Lufthansa, Turkish Airlines and South African Airways, have all declined to do so.
Kaduna's ability to handle long-haul flights is understood to be behind the decision, as was safety for passengers and staff forced to travel by road between the two cities.
But Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika told reporters shortly after the first flight arrived: "There are quite a few doubting Thomases whether Kaduna can work. Kaduna is working."
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