Blackout Disrupts Flights At Lagos Airport

Flight operations at the international terminal of the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos, have been disrupted for two days running, following a power outage.
The Tide source said that the airport was out of power on Saturday and yesterday, and was yet to be restored as at the time of filing this report, yesterday evening.
The General Manager, Public Affairs, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mr Yakubu Dati, who confirmed the development to newsmen, added that, “There was a power outage from PHCN and the airport was on our independent power supply.
“However, when power was restored, the surge adversely affected the K16-transformer that serves the air-bridges and rendered them unserviceable.
“This adversely affected operations of departing flights. The heavy rainfall further delayed attempts by engineers to effect repairs immediately,” he explained.
It was gathered that as result of the serious power outage, airlines operating into the country can no longer make use of the fingers that were assigned to them, instead airlines now use ramps.
As at Saturday, August 27, the disruption necessitated by the power failure affected KLM/Air France, British Airways, Lufthansa, and South Africa Airways flights.
These airlines, it was gathered, used the ramp to board and disembark their passengers instead of using the fingers.
A source close one of the airlines told newsmen that yesterday, the disruption continued, as electricity was yet to be restored.
The source added that Arik Air London flight, Virgin Atlantic Airways, Air Maroc flights were affected, and that these airlines also used the ramp.
However, FAAN had apologised to passengers, airlines and the general public for the inconvenience caused by this development.
The authority said that efforts were being made to find a lasting solution.