…Calls For Review Of 3 Months Closure
…Says Action Not In The Interest Of Aviation Industry
As the harsh operating conditions continues to affect airlines in the country with no solution in sight, the Airline Operators of Nigeria(AON) has accused the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria(FAAN) of further compounding their problems by closing the 18 left runway of the Murtala Muhammed Airport(MMA), Lagos. without any sign of work going on for over a week now.
Recalled that FAAN closed the runway on July 8,2022 and will last for 90 days or three months to install CAT 111 Airfield Ground Lighting(AFL) System .
The airline umbrella body also accused FAAN of not consulting with the domestic airlines in the country before unilaterally closing the 18 left runway of the Murtala Muhammed Airport(MMA), Lagos.
The accusation is contained in a letter addressed to the Managing Director of FAAN, Capt. Hamisu Yadudu and signed by the AON President, Alhaji Abdulmunaf Sarina.
The AON in the letter said that it received with surprise, the Notice to Airmen(NOTAM) of July 5, 2022 informing the industry that FAAN would be closing the domestic runway 18L of MMA from 08, July 2022, for a period of 90 days.
It added that with such short notice, FAAN, sadly went ahead to close the runway causing unsustainable additional operating costs and severely inconveniencing the airlines and passengers.
AON said that in the light of this, it decided to raise the following critical issues for your urgent attention:
That AON welcomes the effort by FAAN to install runway lighting on Runway 18L, at last but that however, international best practice for such critical airfield infrastructure projects is for the airport operator to enter into discussions with all 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.
FAAN, it posited has failed to do this in this instance.
AON also posited that FAAN is aware of the current existential threat of runaway aviation fuel prices to the domestic airlines but that the closure of the main domestic runway of MMA automatically adds an additional 10-15 per cent more fuel costs per sector into and out of MMA, based on the additional flight and taxi time incurred as a result.
Airlines, the AON said have already felt these additional costs within the first week of the closure of the runway, lamenting that this unnecessary burden is unsustainable for a 3-month period on the airlines.
AON said that 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, the body argued is aware that most domestic flights originate from or pass through MMA at some point every day, adding that what FAAN has done is an unnecessary additional negative outcome for the industry.
AON argued that that in line with international best practice, runways of airports are only closed when there is no other option, stressing that for infrastructure projects such as this one on 18L, to limit the impact on flight operations, FAAN should have ensured that the contractor does the work at night, when the runway is not in use.
AON further said that if there is an absolute need for work to be done during daylight hours, then agreement should have been reached with the runway users on what time window would allow this.
“For the major airport in Nigeria, AON notes with disappointment that Runway 18L has been closed for a week now, with no evidence of any work going on. Yet the airlines have been burdened with huge but unnecessary additional costs and flight delays. Surely, this situation is not in the best interests of the industry.” AON said.
AON said that 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.
The AON stated that given the above critical concerns, it is urging FAAN management to urgently review the closure of Runway 18L and enter into discussion with the users of the runway on a procedure for the project, that limits both the cost impact on airlines as well as disruption to normal flight operations.
It requested that FAAN should convene an urgent stakeholders’ consultation meeting, to achieve the above, assuring FAAN of its commitment to partnering with it to install the long overdue runway lighting on Runway 18L, in line with accepted international best practice.
