.jpeg)
What have you done since you resumed as Director of Airport Operations at FAAN?
As we are all aware, there are a lot of challenges in FAAN. We are doing our best to see how we can overcome these challenges.
One of the most significant challenges that we met on ground was the closure of Runway 18 at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos. It is one of the significant runways that we have in Lagos, and you know Lagos is one of the prime airports in Nigeria. When we came in, that runway was under renovation, which was initially scheduled for six weeks.
At that time, the runway had been overrun for eight months and was still closed. There were a lot of issues on the contractual terms. So, we discussed it with the Managing Director of FAAN, Mrs Olubunmi Kuku, who presented it to the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr Festus Keyamo, who, as you know, does whatever is required to bring positive change to the aviation industry. Alongside the MD, he went out of his way to ensure that the runway was opened.
We did everything possible to ensure that the runway was opened. And we also fixed the runway lighting. After that, we fixed the Link 1 that was also closed. In Lagos, we now have two runways that are working perfectly.
That is an achievement. Also, you could recall that last year, the Hajj operation was not done in Ilorin because of the inefficiency of its runway lighting. This time, we ensured that we had the runway lighting at the Ilorin airport operational. As a result, the Hajj operation was successfully done in Ilorin. Despite these things, we have also ventured into looking at upgrading our facilities. It is obvious that our facilities suffer from decay. Some of the buildings have been there for 40 years and when buildings have been there for that long, all that can be done are palliative works.
Although the plan is to see that we remodel everything, it would take time because it is not something that could be done overnight. But, because we have the backing of the Minister and MD of FAAN, whatever I need, I always get it. I have never taken anything to the MD or to the Minister that was not considered.
Another challenge that we have are our toilets. The toilets of the airport are appalling. Now, we have ventured into looking at how to upgrade airports’ toilets, especially the five international airports that we have. The work is still ongoing. We are looking at remodeling the toilets. Very soon, Nigerians will see the new toilets that we are going to launch in all the terminals. That work is already ongoing. On certification of our airports, especially the Lagos and Abuja airports, this is still ongoing. The major problem was that the challenges were many when we came in. We have seen the report from the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, indicating that these gaps need to be closed. Confidently, I will tell you that most of the gaps that ought to be closed for the certification have been closed.
Runway friction test and derubberization
Concerning this issue, there are misunderstandings. And immediately we came in, what we did was to make a schedule for runway friction test and derubberization. It is not every time that derubberization on the runway is carried out. It is not how it works. Derubberization has a schedule and the schedule is based on the number of landings of aircraft on a particular runway. Apart from landing, there is what we call a friction test.
The results of a friction test determine whether a runway needs derubberization or not. For instance, once a friction test is done and no derubberization is required, it is fine. If derubberization is required, then it will be carried out. So, since we came in, we have a schedule for all the runways in Nigeria and we follow the schedule religiously. In some airports, you have to do it quarterly. For others, you have to do it biannually.
The reason is because there are airports that do maybe just one flight a week. If an airport does one flight a week, derubberization may occur once in a year. This is because such a runway cannot be compared with one that does probably a hundred flights in a day.
Runway excursion incidents
Let me also make this clear: When they talk about excursions, people just put the cart before the horse. There are one thousand and one reasons that may cause excursions. For instance, what is the time of landing? What was the weather condition? What was the weather condition? Was the runway wet? Was it windy? At what point did the pilot touch down? They all matter. Another thing is that aircraft may have its issues. What if the aircraft doesn’t have an anti-skit? There are issues that we need to look at before talking about derubberization.
Let’s touch on the evacuation equipment. What’s the assessment? Do you have enough evacuation equipment?
We have the aircraft recovery equipment. We have a complete set in Abuja. This equipment is not the kind that you must have at every airport because it is a very expensive piece of equipment. And it is also not an equipment that you just buy and put in a store. In some countries where they have it, particularly neighbouring countries, when they need it, they fly it down to remove aircraft. We have enough.
We have a complete set and the operators are trained to use it. They were in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom for training. It is a brand new equipment sitting down and fully serviceable. The Minister is also in the process of buying another set and bringing it to Lagos. I have seen it, they have already started talking to the people. All the process of the purchase is already in the pipeline because infrastructure is key to airline operations.
Airport master plan
There is a master plan, the airport master plan, which is seriously being worked on. The Minister wants to see this master plan so that we can sit down and drive it. By the time we start driving and implementing it, these challenges of space will be sorted.
Another thing is that we are trying to leverage some of our airports that have been underutilised to see how we can give airlines some incentives if they fly to those airports that are heavily underutilised.
These are some of the options that we are looking at. We intend to offer incentives to airlines by saying: “If you go to so-so airport and land, this is what we are going to offer to you.” This is to encourage the airlines to utilise those airports to reduce the pressure on some of the major airports.
The space you have in Lagos is occupied by cannibalized aircraft. What are you doing to ensure that these aircraft are removed?
I can assure you that there is work in progress on this and we are making headway. About a month or five weeks ago, the Minister was here and he personally went to the graveyard area. I just don’t want to say what we are doing, but I assure you something is going to be done and you will see the results.