Jubilation as First International Flight Lands in Akanu Ibiam Airport, Enugu.

                               

It was jubilation galore, Saturday, as the first international aircraft, the Ethiopian Airline Boeing 737-800 ET-APL landed at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu.

The aircraft which took off from Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital touched down at the reconstructed Enugu airport at 12.13pm. It’s
safe arrival sparked jubilation from the cultural troupes, airport workers and a the huge crowd that assembled to welcome it. The crowd was made up of people from the five South East states, who showered praises on President Goodluck Jonathan for fulfilling his promise to give Ndigbo an international airport.

As the Boeing 737-800 marked ET-APL taxied along the tarmac, it was ‘baptized’ with a “flood and flush” of clean water from the two fire fighting trucks stationed on both sides of the tarmac until it was almost covered with the “flush-and-splatter of water”.

An official of Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, said the flood of water on the aircraft was a way of “toasting it” to mark the
celebration of its safe arrival.
The arrival of the plane marked an end of an era of blockage placed on Ndi Igbo, as this is the first time the Igbos are opportune to leave the country from their own land for nearly 45 years