Obviously, year 2021 has come and gone and has now become part of history with 2022 fully on ground.
The immediate past year can never be forgotten as it meant many things to many people in view of the different experiences it brought their way. As challenging as the year was, the good news is that the year has gone with its lorry load of discomfort.
The country’s aviation sector is one of such areas that suffered from the myriad of challenges that reared its head in the past year. The challenges ranged from economic crunch to business disruptions caused by the pandemic which unfortunately is still raging.
These and many other problems which had negative impact on airline operations and other allied businesses with its spiraling effects on passengers’ movement reached its peak during the Yuletide as seen in the hardship passengers were subjected to while making attempts to travel.
It is no longer news how many travellers suffered at the various airports in the country particularly at Lagos for various reasons ranging from flight delays, cancellation caused by epileptic airport infrastructure such as obsolete baggage conveyor belts, inadequate check-in counters, over stretched security processing bays, waiting halls, boarding gates among others.
The bad experience suffered by the passengers many of whom had to stay on queues for hours with their loads waiting for screening, would have been avoided if the airport facilities were up to standard.
While the chaotic situation almost pitched the aggrieved passengers against the airlines on one hand, the development equally exposed the long year of infrastructural deficiencies rocking the airports.
Even though the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has been making efforts to fix the decay, it’s little efforts are often swallowed in the face of overwhelming challenges or emergencies.
The non commensurate efforts of FAAN to the prevailing situations at the Lagos airport reared its head during the last Yuletide when upsurge in passenger traffic led to the total collapse of the baggage systems at the Lagos airport and the subsequent delay of passengers.
Prior to the confusion created during the Yuletide, passengers including the inbound passengers, had often suffered pressure at the airports while waiting endlessly for their luggage as the ground handling staff struggle with the conveyor belts and other facilities meant to facilitate the easy scanning and identification of luggage.
Every day, it’s one story or the other pointing at one deficiency or another which, in the long run negatively impacted on flight operations.
This state of decay which has become a recurring decimal should not be allowed to rear its head in the new year as priority must be made to upgrading facilities at the airports.
The aviation authorities in Nigeria led by the minister of aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika should prioritise the needs of the sector this time according to their importance.
Upgrading the facilities should not only be left for FAAN in view of the huge capital involved.
Government cannot be talking about airport concessioning, floating of a national carrier or building a maintenance facility when components like conveyor belts that are less expensive are lacking.
There is the need to focus on facilities’ upgrade at the airports particularly at the international ones in line with international standards. Rather than embark on elephant projects, let the government make the airports more conducive for flight operations which will no doubt attract more profit to the coffers of government, individual investors and for seamless air transport.
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