FAAN Upgrades Five Int’l Airports

The Federal Airports
Authority of Nigeria (FAAN),  says ongoing construction at five major international airports would make the country the hub of aviation in Africa, when completed in 2016.
This is contained in a statement issued on Sunday in Lagos after an Annual General Assembly Conference and Exhibition of the Airport Council International (ACI) in Panama.
It quoted the Managing Director of FAAN, Mr Saleh Dunoma, as saying that the terminals which were being constructed by the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) are in Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Port-Harcourt and Enugu.
Dunoma, who was a panelist at the event, said that the airports would improve passenger comfort, stimulate robust traffic growth in passenger and cargo traffic in Africa, when completed.
He assured that necessary facilities and infrastructure would be available at the five airports to ensure they attained global standards.
The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), the global industry regulator, had prescribed conditions for achieving a hub status for any airport.
Part of the criteria include state-of-the-art airport and air navigation facilities, adequate fire cover, airport safety and security, perimeter fencing, airport certification, transit facilities as well as accelerated passenger facilitation.
However, none of the country’s airports has met ICAO requirements for the hub status.
Towards this end, an aggressive programme targeted at improving safety and security procedures at airports, as well as massive facility and infrastructure upgrade was required.
The statement also quoted Panama’s President, Mr Juan Rodriguez, as highlighting the importance of aviation which contributed significantly to Panama’s Gross Domestic Product.
Chairman, ACI World, Mr Hector Navarrette, while speaking on the theme “Airports: Shaping our future’’, said ACI was working to ensure safety and security in all aspects of the airport business.
Director-General of ACI World, Mrs Angela Gittens, was quoted as saying that ACI was collaborating with ICAO to ensure that policy decisions were balanced among airports, airlines and air navigation service providers.
Gittens noted that the council accounted for 590 regular members operating 1,850 airports in 77 countries.
She said that ACI would promote the advancement of the collective interests of the world’s airports and the community they serve.