Nigeria’s Airports: Meeting Global Standards

On March 8, 2017, the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja will be shut down to enable complete re-construction of the airport’s runway going by the pronouncement of Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi.
Amaechi in a recent interview with the media said that flights will be diverted to Kaduna Airport, pending the completion of the rehabilitation of the airport’s damaged runway built over two decades ago.
The Minister disclosed that beyond the runway’s lifespan of 20 years, it has lasted for 34 years, thus, over-stretching its limit and capacity.
Similarly, the Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Capt. Muktar Usman revealed that the agency has given approval to government’s plan to shut down the airport within the period of its reconstruction, a development which has generated so much controversy among stakeholders.
The Senate and other stakeholders in the aviation industry had kicked against the complete closure of the airport, opting for partial closure of the airport while reconstruction work is ongoing.
While The Tide appreciates government’s position on the matter, especially against the backdrop of safety of lives of air travellers and property, we think that rather than losing innocent lives which can be saved if government does the needful, the six week duration for the job is not too much of a sacrifice.
We recall that last October, Emirates Airline stopped flights to Abuja on account of the condition of the tarmac and runway of the airport, among other sundry issues. Thousands of domestic air commuters were stranded at the various airports in the country, because of harmattan haze that created visibility issues.
Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) blamed the situation at the time to obsolete navigational aids at the nation’s airports. The AON said that the nation was still operating the Category I visibility, also known as CAT I, with 800 metres visibility while most airports around the world operate CAT III which enables aircrafts to land even in zero visibility
Experts note with sadness that while all the aircrafts being operated by the airlines are fully fitted with CAT II and CAT III landing equipment, even the country’s busiest and biggest airport, the Murtala Mohammed Airport in Lagos remains a CAT 1 airport, meaning that flights cannot land at below 800 metres visibility due to obsolete Instrument Landing System (ILS).
There is no gainsaying the fact that there is a near total collapse of aviation infrastructure in all the airports in the country. Apart from dilapidated runways, complaints of absence of basic amenities like adequate and functional fire fighting equipment to shanty and shabby terminals, among others, are very common. Issues of invasion of the runways by cows are also among occurrences here that are unheard of in other climes.
These are among many more reasons why The Tide thinks that the Federal Government should have come out with a more holistic and aggressive plan and programme to ensure that all domestic and international airports in the country do not just have multiple runways and terminals but that the infrastructures and facilities are generally upgraded to meet international standards.
We are aware of the efforts of previous administrations in the aviation sector that did not yield desired results. We believe that the present administration has the opportunity to embark on radical reformation of the aviation sector and give the country its pride of place in the industry.
The aviation industry is capital intensive and generates huge revenue and employment for the teeming unemployed Nigerians. Hence, all hands must be on deck to make it viable and the pride of the nation.