Senior Nigerian Aviation Official Shares Experience of Lungi Airport and Boat Ride to Freetown

A senior Nigerian aviation official has praised Sierra Leone’s Lungi International Airport while describing the boat journey to Freetown as one of the more challenging parts of travelling to the country.

Michael Achimugu, Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection at the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), shared his experience in a social media post following his visit to Sierra Leone.

Achimugu described Lungi International Airport as a “really cute airport”, but said the journey from the airport to Freetown by boat was his main concern.

“My only problem is, you will need to travel from the airport to the city via boats on the ocean,” he said, adding that the waves and tides could sometimes make the journey frightening.

He said the boat trip takes about 30 minutes each way, meaning travellers may spend approximately one hour travelling by boat for a return journey between Lungi and Freetown.

Lungi International Airport is located on the other side of the Sierra Leone River estuary from Freetown. Travellers can reach the capital by speedboat or ferry, while the alternative road journey requires a much longer trip around the estuary traveling through Port Loko District.

Despite his concerns about the boat crossing, Achimugu said the warm reception he received from Sierra Leoneans made his experience more enjoyable.

“The only consolation for me is, Sierra Leone folk love Nigerians. Makes it easy to enjoy the country,” he wrote.

He also praised Sierra Leone’s Krio language, joking that the local pidgin was not “a stroll in the park”.

Sierra Leone and Nigeria have longstanding historical and cultural ties, including Nigeria’s major role in the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG), which intervened during Sierra Leone’s civil war in the 1990s.

Achimugu’s comments have drawn attention to the unique travel experience associated with Lungi International Airport, where travellers arriving in Sierra Leone’s main international gateway must cross the Sierra Leone River to reach Freetown.