Foreign airlines fret over Lagos airport apron congestion

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• Carriers petition Minister
• Stationed aircraft threat to airport

Foreign airlines operating into the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos have raised concern over safety matters at the airport, alleging congestion at the apron of the airport which makes it difficult for arriving aircraft to have a place to park to disembark their passengers.

Two of the European carriers who spoke to Woleshadarenews under condition of anonymity stated that they have filed petitions with the Minister of Transportation and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) on the need to pull out some domestic airlines’ aircraft that are not serviceable out of the tarmac to allow operational aircraft use the area.

One of the aircraft is blocking a CCTV camera from monitoring the environment; a stationed aircraft can become a target for anything according to a top official of the FAAN.

FAAN has serious capacity constraints as non-flying aircraft permanently sitting down on the apron is a real serious issue.

According to an airline chief, “This is becoming unbearable for us as an airline. We are having a lot of issues. We fear that an accident could happen under this situation. We notice that there are aircraft that are not serviceable that are parked for months in sensitive area of operations. This is too dangerous for aircraft manouvering”.

Aside the tarmac area for commercial aircraft, uncleared cargoes at the Murtala Muhammed cargo apron, have  left the section of the airport congested. The result is that the tarmac can no longer accommodate large cargo aircraft on account of limited space.

Until the un-cleared cargoes are removed from both the tarmac and apron, the area will remain a no-go-area for big cargo aircraft, including B747 and B767.

The permanently stationed aircraft all wide-bodied are reported to be occupying the little available space for all aircraft operating in and out of the terminal.

One of the aircraft, a Boeing belonging to Medview is parked on the open bay at the hajj and cargo terminal. There are other three B777 on the apron at the passenger terminal apron belonging to Air Peace and another Airbus belonging to Arik air. Arik’s Airbus airplane had been parked in the area for over two years with vandalised engines and other parts.

While aircraft are not meant to be parked permanently on the apron to occupy space, the Management of MMIA says these aircraft were parked without prior notice, adding that they had been there for as long as a year or two and even beyond.

According to the Manager South-West Airport who also doubles as the MMIA Airport Manager, Mrs. Victoria Shinaba, one of the aircraft on the passenger apron has spent over five years, while others a year and a half and so on.

She said some of the aircraft newly brought in, were brought in without prior notice to the airport authority, explaining that they were put in a difficult position on arrival to quickly look for a parking space for the aircraft.

“We are not against new airlines operating here, we welcome new operators and we are not hostile but prior notice should be given when an aircraft is coming in. The international airlines always notify us whenever they are bringing in a bigger aircraft to enable us provide space for them, this is not a garage that you just come and dump your car and go away, it’s not done”.

“They inform us less than 24 hours, 12 hours, to bring in an aircraft at times they don’t even do that, they just tell you an aircraft is coming in an hour’s time, were do we park it? Where do you want me to get the space?

According to Mrs Shin-Aba, the airport management was not against any airline bringing in aircraft but should be duly informed prior to arrival “to enable the authority provide a suitable place where it would not affect its operations”.

She said, 32 airlines were making use of the only 14 functional avio bridges at MMIA on daily bases adding one of the aircraft was currently blocking the active bay.

According to her, due to space constraints, other airlines using the apron often find it difficult to get a place to park and manoeuvre, citing the wings collision incident involving Emirates and a stationed Hak aircraft at the domestic wing of the airport few years back.

“Already, at the international wing we have three aircraft sitting there, one has been there for almost five years now since 2015 and we have another for a year and a half and we have one at hajj and cargo occupying active bay, all big bodied aircraft”.

“At the end of the day, the operating aircraft and airlines will now have constraints of parking there, we are not hostile the issue is, they should give us prior notice”, she added.

The airport manager noted that when international airlines were coming into the country with a different aircraft type for operations, they inform the authority months before and even visit to ensure the operational environment was adequate and safe for their operations.

“But our Nigerian operators take things for granted and all they want to do is to come and dump their aircraft there. If I may use that word and at the headquarter level because Lagos is filled up and is congested they have been given an option why don’t you park at other airports like Enugu, Port Harcourt, Ilorin airports with the runways that can take that kind of aircraft at the domestic, there are aircraft parked there for over many years not flying, it is not done anywhere”.

The airport manager said a permanently stationed aircraft could constitute a threat to the airport.

The onus of securing the aircraft still rest with FAAN thought the airlines have the primary responsibility to their aircraft but the general responsibility of safeguarding the aircraft still rest with FAAN.

She said, ”We have to work together; it is not a garage that you just bring your aircraft and park, it is not a garage, this is an apron, all over the world slots allocation are worked on seriously, you work on slots, this is what I have, what does the airport have and all those things, it is not a garage, it is not a car park that you just go and dump your car there and walk off”.

“All over the World, slot allocations and for aircraft are worked out and these airlines don’t consider the capacity of open bays.

Shin-Aba however assured that plans were on to increase the capacity of the apron but it will be a long time plan.

According to investigation, Emirates cargo is planning to stop flights into the airport due to inadequate space and Arik air whose aircraft is said to be occupying space on the apron is planning to remove its aircraft as talks have been open between them and FAAN management.

Wole Shadare