THE Guide to Sleeping in Airports, a privately-run website which ranks the world’s international airports on the basis of travellers’ experience, listed the Port Harcourt International Airport as “the worst airport in Africa and one of the worst in the world.” Among other negative accolades, the airport was slammed for its ‘unpleasant and unhelpful staff,’ its ‘broken air-conditioning,’ and the fact that its Arrivals Hall was nothing but a shabby tent. The Guide’s poor ranking apparently stung the people in charge. For one thing, the airport’s authorities issued a release explaining that the poor state of the airport’s facilities had to do with the renovation of facilities then underway. The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), the body with the statutory responsibility for the management of all commercial airports in the country, also rose in its defence.
Last week’s warning by the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) that the country’s airports have been operating with antiquated navigational aids has once again thrown the state of the country’s aviation sector into grim relief. According to the AON chairman, Captain Nogie Meggison, the country’s airports are still making do with category 1 visibility (maximum 800 metres), whereas the majority of the world’s airports now operate with CAT III, a radio navigation landing system which makes it possible for pilots to land either with poor visibility, or with no visual contact with the runway. To put things in proper perspective, it has been possible to land an aircraft at the Heathrow International Airport with zero pilot visual contact since 1968, nearly five decades ago.
The background to Captain Meggison’s lament was the spate of flight cancellations and air returns (in which pilots are forced to abort landings and return to original destinations) which hit the aviation sector in the closing weeks of 2016, as the harmattan haze brought with it the inevitable poor visibility. The cancellations and air returns were intensely felt during a traffic-heavy yuletide period. Not only did airlines incur unanticipated costs, travellers missed vital business and personal appointments. In some cases, passengers of flights which were rerouted to the Cotonou Cadjehoun Airport (which, by the way, operates a CAT II landing system) had to circuitously find their way back into the country. Indeed, last Thursday, even President Muhammadu Buhari’s scheduled visit to Bauchi State was cancelled three hours to his planned arrival in the state capital, and he expressed his regret via a phone call made to the state governor, Mohammed Abubakar. For three successive days, the Murtala Muhammed Airport was on lock down until visibility improved towards the early evening. This portends serious security implications for the country.
We agree with the AON chairman that it is a shame that the country’s airports are still operating with antediluvian equipment that puts the country out of sync with the rest of the world, puts it at security risk, lays a financial strain on commercial airline operators, and exposes travellers to unnecessary danger. Given the state of navigational aids in the majority of the airports, we wonder what has happened to all the monies and other material resources budgeted for the improvement of the airports over the years. Under President Goodluck Jonathan, for instance, billions of Naira were reportedly spent on the upgrade of facilities at the nation’s airports. Why wasn’t any of this money devoted to the upgrade of navigational equipment?
In response to the AON’s chairman’s complaints, the Acting Director of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Emma Anasi, has announced the immediate commencement of upgrades to the airports’ traffic management systems. While we applaud this move, we are curious as to why the Agency had to wait until the disruptions witnessed in the past couple of weeks before moving into action. In any case, as far back as July last year, the Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NIMET) had forecast a hazy harmattan period. Why did NAMA ignore NIMET’s warning?
Airports are important commercial hubs and the aviation sector is a key driver of economic growth. The country cannot purport to aspire to economic development whilst continuing to treat its airports as an afterthought.
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