Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, largely closed to scheduled passenger traffic under the national lockdown, became a landing point for a series of special cargo and charter flights in April 2020 as Kano State grappled with one of the country's most severe COVID-19 outbreaks. A Federal Government-chartered aircraft carrying a team of Chinese medical personnel and consignments of testing kits, protective equipment and other supplies landed at the airport to support the state's response.
Airport Kept Open for Essential Traffic
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria kept the airport's cargo apron and essential services running throughout the closure to passenger flights, coordinating arrivals of relief materials from federal agencies and international donors, including consignments linked to the Jack Ma Foundation's Africa-wide COVID-19 donation programme, which routed supplies through Nigeria for onward distribution.
Kano State health officials credited the airlift of medical personnel and equipment with helping to reinforce testing and treatment capacity at a point when the state's case numbers and reported deaths were rising sharply, before the outbreak began to ease in the following weeks.