Victor Ezeja
Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) have decried the sudden closure of the domestic runway (18L) at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport Lagos by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) on July 8, 2022.
The airline operators noted that the notice for the closure which (would last for 90 days) was issued on July 5 by FAAN who went ahead to implement it three days after.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelIn a letter signed by the AON president, Alhaji Abdulmunaf Yunusa Sarina addressed to the managing director of FAAN and dated July 18, 2022, the domestic airline operators said the closure has caused unsustainably additional operating costs and great inconvenience for the airlines and passengers.
It pointed out that under international best practice for such “critical airfield infrastructure projects”, FAAN ought to hold a discussion with affected parties to “arrive at an optimal arrangement that allows the work to be done, while limiting the inconvenience, economic impact, and safety implications on all concerned. In this instance, FAAN failed to do this.”
The operators further stated that with the current high price of aviation fuel, the closure would automatically add “an additional 10-15% more fuel costs per sector into and out of MMA, based on the additional flight and taxi time incurred as a result.”
They revealed that within the first week of the closure of the runway, the airlines have already felt these additional costs, adding that the burden would be unsustainable for them over a three-month period.
Further lamenting the challenges, it said, “The closure of Runway 18L has led to a chain of direct flight delays on a daily basis, impacting the entire system of scheduled domestic flights in the country. FAAN is aware that most domestic flights originate from or pass through MMA at some point every day. This is an unnecessary additional negative outcome for the industry.
“AON contends that in line with international best practice, runways of airports are only closed when there is no other option. For infrastructure projects such as this one on 18L, to limit the impact on flight operations, FAAN ought to have ensured that the contractor does the work at night when the runway is not in use. If there is an absolute need for work to be done during daylight hours, then the agreement should have been reached with the runway users on what time window would allow this.”
The operators stated with concern that since the closure, there is no evidence of work going on even as the airlines continue to bear the burden of additional costs and flight delays. “Surely this situation is not in the best interests of the industry,” it noted.
“Moreover, the additional taxi time due to closure of runway 18L impacts negatively on airlines schedule to sunset airports around the country leading to delays and cancellation of flights to these airports,” it added.
The airline operators called on FAAN to urgently review the closure of the runway and hold a discussion with users of the runway on how to mitigate the impact.
“AON hereby requests FAAN to convene an urgent stakeholder’s consultation meeting, to achieve the above. AON assures FAAN of our commitment to partnering with FAAN to install the long overdue runway lighting on Runway 18L, in line with accepted international best practice,” the letter added.
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Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with seven years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Master's degree in Mass Communication.
