First bold move to secure the West African Gulf of Guinea military !


BA

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<http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=12220>http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=12220

NIGERIA: DynCorp International Will Build and Operate West Africa's
Most Advanced Private Airport

The private military company and provider of aviation services
worldwide is designing and building a $300 million airport facility
to "meet the rapidly-growing needs of West and Central Africa." The
company will equip and operate maintenance, repair and air-cargo
facilities.

DynCorp International (Press Release)
May 8th, 2005

  DynCorp International, a major provider of aviation services
worldwide, is designing and building the most modern and
comprehensive airport facility in West Africa.

The new airport in Akwa Ibom, Nigeria, will be one of the first
privately funded and operated airports in Africa and will use the
latest in technology and design to meet the rapidly-growing needs of
West and Central Africa.

The Akwa Ibom International Airport will be a private commercial
venture with facilities to handle wide-body aircraft, regional air
cargo, and major aircraft repair and maintenance. The construction
project is a public-private partnership between DynCorp International
and Akwa Ibom state. DynCorp International signed a memorandum of
understanding in November 2004 with His Excellency, Victor Attah, the
executive governor of Akwa Ibom state.

The project represents a strategic investment to meet increasing
demands for aviation services in the region. Oil-industry activities
in the Gulf of Guinea--spurred by recent discoveries of major oil and
natural gas reserves--are expected to create substantial demand for
air cargo capacity.

Sub-Saharan Africa has long needed a major maintenance capability.
African Airlines currently conduct maintenance operations in Europe
and the United States, as well as at some South African and Ethiopian
facilities. The new airport, which will be a major regional air-cargo
hub, will provide African airlines with cost-effective alternatives
for both regular fleet maintenance and major maintenance (C & D
checks).

DynCorp International will carry out the project in two phases based
on demand-driven expansion that provides appropriate airport
facilities when required.

Phase One, to be operational by December 2006, includes a 4,200-meter
runway, taxiways, an air-traffic control tower, apron areas for
aircraft parking, an aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO)
facility, a control tower, an air-rescue and fire- fighting facility
and all required support infrastructure. The MRO will accommodate two
747-400 aircraft, and will be used for full-service aircraft
maintenance, including engines.

Phase Two, to be completed in December 2007, includes the cargo
facility, a terminal building with passenger-loading bridges, an
aircraft maintenance and repair hanger, an air cargo facility, a
free-export processing facility, and a 300-room hotel.

The total cost of the project will be more than $300 million. Akwa
Ibom state is carrying 30 percent of the capital costs, and DynCorp
International will equip and operate the MRO and air-cargo
facilities. Major road-network reconstruction to support the airport
-- including dual carriageways to neighboring states -- is currently
under way and financed by Akwa Ibom state.

----

DynCorp International is a leading professional services and project
management firm with global expertise in aviation services,
logistics, and security operations. Headquartered in Irving, Texas,
DynCorp International employs 14,500 people in some 40 countries. It
traces its beginnings to the founding of Dynalectron Corporation in
1946, and in 2004 had revenues of nearly $2 billion.

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<http://www.akwaibomstategov.com/news2-2.asp?ID=2138>http://www.akwaibomstategov.com/news2-2.asp?ID=2138

A'Ibom Airport ready 2006

The first phase of Akwa Ibom Airport project is to be completed by
the end of 2006. The commissioner of lands and housing, Engr. Iroigak
Ikann, made this known while addressing the people of Essien Itiaba
at Ikot Itie Udung Town Hall, in Nsit Atai Local Government Area,
about the decision of the government to acquired their land as a part
of the 2,300 hectares of land which is designated for the airport
project which he said stretched from Ndon Ebom in Uruan, through
parts of Okobo Local Government Area to Essien Itiaba in Nsit Atai.

Engr. Ikann described the topography of the land mass to be
adequately suitable for the airport project whose first phase, when
completed, will have a control tower, runaway, maintenance hanger and
cargo handling shed. He urged the host communities to continue to
cooperate with workers who had been on site since January this year
to ensure a quick completion of the project of the project and on
schedule. Assuring the community of unique economic potentials of the
airport, the commissioner advised the youth to seize the opportunity
which is at their door step to seize the opportunity which is at
their door step to acquire the necessary expertise and skills to reap
the benefits of the initial stage of the construction.

Engr. Ikann also disclosed that the airport would overrun the present
federal road which is leading to Oron, which would have to be closed
permanently as a result. Traffic, he said, would now be diverted
through Ndon Ebom - Nsit Atai - Oron would soon be constructed and
dualized, and assured them of government's commitment to pay
compensation on economic crops after proper enumeration had been
done. The chief executive officer of M.I.E. Project, USA, one of the
project's consultants of Dyncorp International U.S.A., Mr Ime Ekanem
said the airport which would be built at the cost of $300 million,
would be the only privately owned and managed airport in Nigeria.

He described it as being of the best standards anywhere in Africa as
it would have aircraft maintenance facilities, cargo handling
facilities, a unique control tower with the best facilities and best
runaway in the country. He said all these and other facilities to be
added to the airport in due course would create employment
opportunities as well as engender a tremendous degree of economic
activities in the community, the State and the country.

Mr Ekanem said that the airport has the support of the United States
Government, the US private sector and Akwa Ibom Government. He
assured the communities of his company's commitment to carry the host
communities along in the project. An indigene of the area, Sir
Emmanuel Ekpenyong who is also the deputy speaker of the State House
of Assembly, assured his people of government's determination to
ensure that the project was completed as scheduled and gave an
assurance that the project has come to stay, and advised them to be
absolutely committed to maintaining peace and order as work continues
on the site.

posted 2/9/2005 2:07:11 AM

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A'Ibom require s $50m for airport

Akwa Ibom Airport project will cost the State government $50 million
as its counterpart fund. Gov Victor Attah disclosed this penultimate
during a press briefing at Government House, Uyo, while explaining
the importance of the airport to the Nigerian economy.Governor Attah
who also shed more light on the idea behind the project said that the
airport would provide hangar facilities for repairs and maintenance
of aircraft adding that the hangar, he said, when completed would be
the first in Nigeria and would be patronized by private airlines in
and outside the country.

He further disclosed that efforts of several years that the Federal
Government had tried to get hangar facilities were in vain but his
administration has been fortunate to have investors who were
interested in the project disclosing that the airport would help
facilitate movement of goods and services under the African Growth
and Opportunities Act, AGOA.

Envisaging the commercial opportunities the airport will generate,
Governor Attah said it would witness a huge passenger travel
activities. He reasoned that with the presence of Mobil, an American
company in the State, the airport could be widely patronized,
especially by Americans. On employment opportunities expected to be
created by the airport, Governor Attah said the first batch of
workers at the airport would be graduates from the proposed Akwa Ibom
University of Technology.