Editorial: Rescuing airports from abandoned aircraft

All over the world, international airports cast the first physical image of any country. It tells a lot about the orderliness or otherwise of the government in regulating its affairs.

While most countries try as much as possible to put forward a healthy image of their environment, Nigeria does the otherwise as first time visitors to the country are confronted with myriad of disorderliness.

Until recently when the Lagos State Government took the decision to rehabilitate the nation’s international airport road, successive administration at the federal level never bothered about the eyesore that route constituted to the nation.

A country’s airport, no doubt, is often the first port of call for most first-time visitors.

As such, many countries build their airport upon the blueprint of splendour. In time the airports morph into national symbols from just functional commercial air transport aerodromes.

Since visitors start forming their impression about a country right from the airport, many advanced countries pay so much attention to making their airports look attractive.

The same awkward scenario goes for the airport where, apart from touts swooping in on visitors, one is also confronted with the sorry sight of abandoned and disused aircraft.

The over 100 disused aircraft at Nigerian airports, apart from being an eyesore, are constituting security and safety hazards to the airport environment.

The abandoned aircraft are those belonging to Aero, Chanchangi, Arik, Hak (that came with many aircraft but never flew), Dana, Savannah, Harco, Albarka, IRS, Nicon, ADC, and a host of many others, including private jets belonging to famous clergies, banks and other wealthy Nigerians.

Although there had been attempts a few years ago to get the airplanes out of the airports across the country, the owners got a court order restraining the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) from removing them, while a few others were moved to a graveyard in Ejigbo.

While having old aircraft in various countries is not a new development, experts say where these aircraft are kept or stored and to what use they are put to matters a lot. It is unimaginable that most of the aircraft that are no longer in use like the Boeing classics, DC-9, BAK 1-11 and the rest are left there to constitute nuisance instead of grinding them rubbles.

There are people all over the world looking for disused aircraft to buy. All they need to do is advertise them for buyers to come and pick.

More lamentable is the fact that the engines and avionics are priced assets while the fuselage can also be used for hospitality purposes.

The aluminium frames can be converted to cutleries and other important metal works.

Examples are replete in many parts of the world where disused aircraft frame or fuselage are converted to restaurants or hotels with the buyers paying heavily for this equipment because of the huge commercial purposes they can be turned into. Not in Nigeria where that economic idea seems to be lacking.

The amount of money airlines invest into their aircraft is mind-boggling. A Boeing 787- 9 Dreamliner sells for $265 million . Current list price of a new Airbus A380 is $432.6 million.

Not a few believe that the most profitable option for an airline looking to retire some of its fleet is selling the aircraft intact to another airline when these aircraft reach their useby date.

FAAN recently raised the alarm that the abandoned planes obscure airspace, which, by implication, can obstruct routine and emergency operations.

Also, emissions from their dysfunctional equipment are said to be capable of impeding navigational signals and interfering with flight instruments of operating airlines.

FAAN had in January 2018 commenced evacuation of abandoned aircraft at the airside of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos. Allowing abandoned aircraft to litter the airports sends wrong signals to passengers, especially those visiting the country for the first time.

It does not look good to keep these aircraft at our airports as it spoils the aesthetics of the airports and gives the country a bad image to people who are passing through the country’s airports.

Wole Shadare