Business

Absence of taxiway at Lagos airport for 10 years generates criticisms

By Shola Adekola | Lagos

 

TONGUES are presently wagging over the absence of a required taxiway at the Murtala Muhammed local airport for over 10 years.

A taxiway is a hard surface at an airport which is designed for the use of aircraft that are taxiing and are used to connect hangars, runways, terminals and other airport areas.

Access to the taxiway is generally limited to aircraft and support vehicles for safety reasons. In modern airports, taxiways are placed at an angle of 30 degrees to the runway so that aircraft can utilise them to switch from one runway to another quickly.

As important as this component is to seamless flight operations, the one at the Lagos airport has been left redundant for over 10 years.

The huge criticism the absence of the taxiway is generating across the sector has been attributed to the lackadaisical attitude of the government through the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) towards critical needs of the sector.

Key players have likened the lukewarm attitude of the relevant aviation authorities to the absence of the airfield lighting systems at the domestic runway 18 Left at the local wing of the airport for 15 years until it was recently fixed.

Commenting on the lapses, a one-time military commandant of the Murtala Muhammed airport, Group Captain John Ojikutu (retd.), wondered why despite the weaknesses, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) chose to re-certify the number one gateway airport.

The functionality of the taxiway, according to Ojikutu, would have minimised the problems of delays experienced by airlines during VIP movements as witnessed last week when a Lagos-bound Lufthansa aircraft with over 200 Nigerians onboard was forced to divert to Malabo in Guinea to land before bringing the passengers to the Lagos international airport after three hours.

He said, “The taxiway has been redundant for over 10 years, the same as the runway 18 Left that was just repaired. You will notice an Arik airline aircraft Airbus parked at one of its end; the aircraft too has been there that long.

“You begin to wonder how these airports are getting the NCAA certification and recertification. If the taxiway is serviceable, the problem of delays by the VIP movement can be reduced. Close the 18L to traffic but make it open for the VIP movement within the regulated time. Create a departure and arrival routes for the other traffic for a separable time and distance to the VIP flight as has been argued front and back today. However, FAAN needs to direct resources to the taxiway for appropriate repairs.”

 

READ ALSO FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE 

Our Reporter

Recent Posts

If you destroy PDP, you have destroyed Nigeria —Sule Lamido

Former minister and ex-governor of Jigawa State, Alhaji Sule Lamido, is among prominent politicians that…

28 seconds ago

Let’s beg civil servants

IN January 2022, the Nigerian government discovered more than 500,000 secret bank accounts it suspected…

10 minutes ago

The reign of motor park louts

RECENTLY, a media report detailed the growing menace of motor park miscreants at the Federal…

25 minutes ago

Nullified National Lottery Act 2005 vs Central Gaming Bill 2025: Old wine, new bottle?

•Can a law not in existence be repealed? The attempt of the House of Representatives…

1 hour ago

Seven days to act: Google warns Gmail users of major password hack

Google has issued an urgent warning to its 1.8 billion Gmail users

1 hour ago

African leaders don’t listen to citizens because of how they were raised —Abiola Oyesile

Abiola Oyeside is a woman of many parts; she is a operation manager, real estate…

1 hour ago

Welcome

Install

This website uses cookies.