FAAN Boss Lists Gains Of Airport Certification

The Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Engr Saleh Dunoma has said that the major benefit of the certification of airports in Nigeria is the safety.
He said that the two airports in Nigeria, the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja and the Murtala Mohammed International Airport Lagos that had been certificated recently were now recognised globally as having attained standard level of safety.
Dunoma who disclosed this while speaking to Journalists in Abuja, Tuesday, on the certification of the two airports in Nigeria, said it was a standard practice that major airlines of the world consider the rating of airports before designating their routes.
“First of all, let me start with the benefits of the certification. ICAO devised this certification in order to make airports keep up to standards.
It starts with the first declaration. Anybody that wants to develop an airport must come up with certain assumption that, look, I want to have an airport that will handle this type of aircraft, let’s say Boeing B747.
“Then ICAO has a specification for you, in terms of the design and the operational parameter. ICAO will tell you how many firemen you need and what category of firemen you need, what the length of the runway will be, as well as the width of the runway.
“Then you will be allowed to build it. So once you finish your design and it is implemented and the airport is for a B747 category, then ICAO comes back to see whether what you said is what you are.
“They will find out, are you an airport that can handle a B747? Do you have the processes and procedures in place to handle a B747, are you compliant with all the safety requirement and after the inspections, they will give a report”, he said.