The Niger State government has said it has opened talks with private airline operators with a view to commencing commercial flight operations in the state.
The Governor, Mohammed Umaru Bago, disclosed this when he inspected the ongoing reconstruction of runway and terminal projects at the airport.
He expressed concern over the slow pace of work on the terminal and said the state government might take over the project for immediate completion.
He said once the terminal repairs are completed, it will set the ball rolling for the state to commence commercial flight operations in the state.
"As a state government, we want to invite the contractor to see how we can intervene and, if possible, take over the job so that we can have a terminal and a functional airport.
"It's our desire to provide commercial flights, and we are talking to some private airline operators to come to Niger State,", he said.
Umaru Bago expressed delight with the quality of the job being done and said he was optimistic the work would be handed over soon.
The contractor handling the runway project assured the governor that he would meet the deadline and that it would soon be ready for operations.