Faulty Kano airport runway lighting forces diversion of flights, night operations resume
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has explained that 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.
Although the airport manager stated that night operations had since resumed at the airport on Sunday, July 16th, 2023 after the restoration of all runway lights.
Director, Public Affairs & Consumer Protection, Abdullahi Yakubu-Funtua who explained what transpired on July 15, 2023, when the lights did not come on stated:
“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 the runway in a total blackout which affected night operations.
Arriving flights had to be diverted to alternate airports.
“At 2300hrs, after all, 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 July 15th to 07:00hrs of July 16th, 2023.
“The 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, July 16th, 2023 leading to the restoration of all runway lights before the commencement of night operations. “
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