Local aviation not viable for 24-hour operation, says FAAN

Lagos Runway 18L to end blackout in July
Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), yesterday, hinged its inability to provide 24-hour services at aerodromes nationwide on non-viability of the local air transport sector.

Managing Director of FAAN, Capt. Hamisu Yadudu, said extending operating hours at sunset airports attracts add-on costs that airlines can’t bear.

Local airlines recently blamed the number of sunset airports and attendant short operating hours, among others, as the bane of flight delays in the industry. They said about 50 per cent of delays would not happen if most of the 24 airports operate into the night.

Yadudu, however, told aviation reporters in Lagos that FAAN would be one of the biggest beneficiaries if all airports operate 24-hour services.

He said: “We earn our revenue from such operations as a service delivery agency. But the challenge is, will the 24/7 services pay for itself? Somebody has to pay for it.

“If we open an airport with just only three landings, FAAN will close down. No organisation in the world will do that. Even if you go to Europe, you will find out that many airports are from sunrise to sunset. You can operate an airport even from sunrise to midday, so that everybody would go around that window.

“FAAN cannot operate an airport where we cannot breakeven, because we are already challenged. We want a 24/7 airport, but we need to know if the business will be sustainable. So, somebody must be ready to have the business model to sustain 24/7 operations. I cannot commit to 24/7 operations when you are not coming.”

The Guardian reported earlier that, at least, 17 of the 20 airports owned and managed by the Federal Government were unviable and operated at losses for three years on the bounce.

Except the trio of Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja, and Port Harcourt International Airport (PHIA), Rivers State, none of the other 17 airports has sufficient revenue to cover the cost of operations alone, and all often operate daylight.

Yadudu added that FAAN is ready to extend the operating time at the airports, though on request by the operating airline that would also bear the cost.

“An airline may decide to open a route today and dispatch just one aircraft, but for FAAN, National Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) and others will have to mobilise personnel, ensure efficiency and fix facilities that cannot be moved in and out.

“Sometimes, fuelers and handlers will be needed. We don’t want a situation where an airline will start a route now and in the next few months, it will stop such a route due to lack of passengers. Then, who will pay for all we have invested?”

He said further that efforts are ongoing to improve infrastructure at airports, especially the Runway 18L in Lagos domestic terminal that has been without lighting in the last 14 years.

Yadudu added: “Some of the equipment we have are aging. Some of them are even 40 years and above. As the current management in FAAN, we are going out of our way to make sure we do our best. Now, we are fixing Runway 18L.

“You cannot land on 18L at night. Now, the contractor is back on site. He was supposed to finish in March, but the cables he had were of low qualities and we are insisting on original ones. So, he said he would fix it by June or July latest.”