The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria diverted two Kano-bound flights to Lagos as a result of unserviceable runway lighting in Kano State.
FAAN explained that the failure of the Runway 06/24 edge
light at the Mallam Aminu Kano Airport, Kano to light up led to the diversion
of the two Kano-bound aircraft at the weekend.
Director, Public Affairs & Consumer Protection, Abdullahi
Yakubu-Funtua said, “On July 15, 2023, at about 1600hrs, the airfield
maintenance team of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) observed
that the runway lighting would not come on after the scheduled daily
maintenance work of replacing old and weak Airfield cables with new ones at
runway 06/24.
“The maintenance team immediately initiated fault-finding
procedures along the cable route to identify the problem and restore power to
the airfield lighting circuit.
“It was however observed that the entire runway circuit was
affected, leading to the failure of the Runway 06/24 edge light, the Taxiway
Alpha edge light, PAPI, and signage.
“As of 1900hrs local time, the fault had yet to be isolated
and power supply to the runway could not be restored leaving Runway in a total
blackout which affected night operations.
“At 2300hrs, after efforts to restore power supply to the
runway failed, the Operations department initiated a NOTAM action for the
closure of Runway 06/24 between the hours of 2300hrs on 15th July to 07:00hrs
of 16th July 2023.
“FAAN regrets any inconvenience caused by the diversion of
the 2 Kano bound aircraft to Lagos, due to the unserviceability of the runway
lights of Runway 06/24.
‘Night operations have since resumed as new cables were
installed on Sunday, 16 July, 2023 leading to restoration of all runway lights
before commencement of night operations.“