Abuja airport: Experts seek new model for second runway

Aviation consultant and a former Commandant, Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, Group Capt John Ojikutu (Rtd), in a chat with Woleshadare.net, said emergency should be declared in building the second runway.

He noted that security and safety in the aviation sector are major focus and most critical before aesthetics. Equally worried that the airport has one runway, President of National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA), Mr Bankole Bernard, called for the commencement of a new runway for the airport.

The project, he stated, could be achieved either by using public private partnership (PPP) or through concession, adding that “the earlier we do just that, the better for Nigerian aviation.”

The Abuja airport, which was built in 1982 with a runway designed to last for 20 years,was expected to fail in 2002. There had not been any major repairs in the last 14 years until government decided to repair the facility, which were riddled with pot-hole, which caused grave danger to airlines, aircraft and passengers.

Ojikutu noted that despite the excruciating pains Abuja bound passengers went through in the last six weeks, it was the sacrifice everybody needed to bear to guarantee safety and save Nigeria the embarrassment of failed runway.

The advice is coming against the backdrop that are all set for the re-opening of flight operations on or before tomorrow as work has reached 99 per cent completion stage as at Saturday, last week. Director-General of Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, Capt. Muhtar Usman has given the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, runway project 99 per cent completion, after carrying out an audit of the job done.

He said: “Today, (Sunday), NCAA, along with the airport owner, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) conducted an inspection. We were able to see that the job has been done well up to at least 99 per cent.

We believe the remaining work would be completed on or before the official opening date.” Usman commented on some items found not to be safety critical about the project: “However, we made some findings as usual with any kind of audit. What we found out were items that are not safety critical.

Those items will not stop the opening of this airport, they will not affect safety. “The findings have been communicated to the owner of the airport, FAAN. We are expecting a corrective action plan that will come with timelines that will address those issues. But, as I mentioned earlier, those items that we found are not safety critical and cannot affect the opening. The job has been well-done.

The technology employed is the latest and we believe Nigerians will be happy.” The Managing Director of FAAN, Saleh Dunoma, responded to the items found by NCAA. He said that they will be corrected after the agreed action plan and timeline with NCAA.