Abuja (ABV): 20 km west of the city, and one runway for everything
A straightforward road in on a good highway, two terminals sharing one runway, and the same rule as anywhere in Nigeria about making your driver identify themselves.
- The airport is about 20 km, 12 miles, west of Abuja, on the airport expressway.
- Traffic is nothing like Lagos. The run into the city is normally straightforward.
- Use the FAAN car hire rank and its dispatch desk, or a car your hotel sent. Both put a name and a vehicle behind the ride.
- The fare shown at the rank is an estimate you can agree with the driver.
- Make whoever meets you identify themselves properly. Criminals posing as greeters are a named problem at Nigeria's international airports.
- There are two terminals, international and domestic, and they share one runway.
- The current terminal was commissioned on 20 December 2018 and is built for up to 15 million passengers a year against roughly 3 million actually using it.
- A single runway means a single point of failure. The airport closed for six weeks in 2017 for runway repairs, and a second runway is still only planned.
- Abuja is the Federal Capital Territory, which the FCDO does not advise against travelling to, unlike a dozen surrounding states.
The road in
- 20 km west of the city, which on the airport expressway is a normal 30 to 40 minute run rather than a Lagos-style ordeal.
- The FAAN car hire rank works the same way here as at Lagos: a dispatch tied to a registered operator, driver and vehicle, with a desk for anyone who has just landed and has no data.
- The displayed fare is an estimate. Agree the final number before you set off, and expect the airport rate to reflect the empty return leg.
- A hotel car booked in advance is the least complicated option, and it is the one the FCDO points at for Nigeria generally.
Identify your driver
- This is the one rule that matters at both Nigerian international airports. Ask for the booking reference, the company or the registration you were sent, and check it against your booking rather than against what the person tells you.
- A printed sign with your name is not proof of anything.
The airport itself
- Two terminals, international and domestic, sharing a single runway.
- The terminal commissioned on 20 December 2018 can process up to 15 million passengers a year. Actual traffic is around 3 million, so this is a big building running well under capacity, and arrivals are rarely crowded.
- One runway is the vulnerability. The airport shut to commercial traffic for six weeks in 2017 while the runway was rebuilt, with Kaduna used as the alternative, and a second runway remains at the planning stage.
- A new international terminal with a cargo section is under construction.
Where you are
- Abuja sits inside the Federal Capital Territory, which the FCDO does not advise against travelling to. Niger, Kogi, Plateau, Taraba, Kwara, Benue, Kaduna and Kano, all of which surround it, are on its advised-against list.
- Kidnapping risk on the roads out is real, and the Abuja to Kaduna highway is named specifically. Flying between Nigerian cities rather than driving is the normal choice for a reason.
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