Yenagoa — Bayelsa State government, yesterday, said the state international airport had not been downgraded, as being insinuated in some quarters.

It said the absence of scheduled flights to and from the Bayelsa International Airport for a couple of weeks was not the making or fault of the government, but has to do with some technical issues with the two airline operators.

The state deputy governor, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, who made the clarification in Yenagoa, explained that two airlines, Ibom Air and United Nigeria Airlines, were carrying out what he called D-Check on their aircraft, which had also affected their flight operations from their primary routes.

According to him, the D-Check was a major maintenance check to determine the air-worthiness of an aircraft after it had made commercial flights for a period of 10 years.

His words: "I can assure you that the Governor Diri-led administration is very much on course. I know that you are going to ask us what is happening to the Bayelsa International Airport.

"There are a few issues, but they are not really our issues as a government per se. We are aware some persons are pushing the news that the airport had been downgraded. That is not true. The Bayelsa airport has not been downgraded.

"If you watch very well, even flights in their regular or primary routes, like the Port Harcourt to Abuja route, have now been reduced to only one daily flight."