In 2015, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN issued a seven-day ultimatum to owners of aircraft at the graveyard and airside at the the Murtala Mohammed Airport (MMA), Lagos, to evacuate them.
Many of these aircraft had been parked in these areas for many years since 2003.
Why was this ultimatum urgent? Because of recurring operational hitches that was posing serious safety concerns to aircraft and some infrastructure at the terminal.
It was also to forestall situations where unscrupulous elements will use them as hiding place to perpetuate criminal activities.
For example, two ground collision incidents involving a Boeing 777-200LR belonging to Emirates Airline and a B737-400 owned by HAK Air collided on July 6 2015 at the airport.
A similar incident involving two aircraft belonging to First Nation Airways aircraft occurred at the same airport on July 17, 2015 when an A319 taxiing into the terminal hit another parked A319 aircraft at the apron.
This further heightened the urgency for immediate evacuation to prevent a recurrence where FAAN is blamed for not having enough space for aircraft to maneuver.
In line with its mission statement: To develop and profitably manage customer-centric airport facilities for safe, secure and efficient carriage of passengers and goods at world-class standards of quality, the Authority swung into action to ensure the safety and security of travellers and other airport users, it decided to carry the burden of evacuating the abandoned aircraft in line with the provisions of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO),when their owners failed to act in response to the seven-day ultimatum.
Because of the seriousness in ensuring safety at the airport, a special task force on evacuation of abandoned aircraft at airports across the country was constituted. As the saying goes, charity begins at home, FAAN commenced the dismantling of its DC8 aircraft used for training to show the high value placed on security and safety of the airport and taken away as scraps aluminium for recycling.
The scraps were evacuated to rolling plants in Ogun and Lagos states for conversion into corrugated aluminium roofing sheets, sliding doors, windows and other small scale industrial uses by the prospective buyers.
Two weeks was given for the dismantling and removal of all of the Thirteen aircraft abandoned eight of which were Boeing 737-200.
FAAN said the exercise was part of the transformation agenda of the Federal Government, “Airports are not dumping grounds for any operator. We are more concerned about the safety and security implications of these aircraft at the airports, there is environmental implications for this.
“We are determined to create a world class airport environment for our users. Leaving them here now does not make any economical benefit to the owners. It’s better we remove them from the airport and make the environment friendly to investors.”
This exercise received wide commendation for stakeholders who said it was high time FAAN took the bull by its horns in removing disused, unserviceable or abandoned aircraft from the airside no matter how highly placed the individuals maybe.
Commenting on the removal then, former Terminal Manager, of the Murtala Muhammed Airport,Local, Olatayo Oginni, said most of the aircraft were not serviceable as they lacked aircraft engines.
He insisted that there was no going back on the evacuation of the aircraft as the agency had given the owners ample time to relocate their machines, which they failed to do.
Also commenting on this, the then President of the Air Transport Senior Staff Services Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN), Mr Benjamin Okewu, said some people received ‘political` Air Operating Certificates (AOCs) and their aircraft had never flew for one day, but were abandoned at the apron, urging FAAN to carry out proper planning and address the problem more decisively.
“If we don’t quickly act to create space, more space around the apron and taxiing areas, there is no how we won’t experience some of these incidents,” he said.
Just a month ago, rather than give ultimatum for the evacuation of another set of abandoned aircraft, apparently haven alerted the owners, FAAN commenced the removal of such aircraft 13 of them.
These aircraft majority belong to moribund and existing airlines namely, Associated Air, IRS, Dana Air and Hak Air.
Others are Air Nigeria, Associated Cargo, Bellview, JedAir, Precision Aviation Handling Company and PAC, TopBrass and others.
As the General Manager, Corporate Affairs, FAAN, Mrs. Yakubu aptly puts it,”The airports belong to FAAN, which means that it is the property of the Federal Government and there is no airline that is bigger than Nigeria. Nigeria has given them a long time to be able to move their aircraft and they have refused to do this. FAAN is not taking possession of their aircraft, but we are moving them away from where they are to another place within the airport where they will not serve as eyesore and where they will not constitute nuisance to activities on our airside,”
As airlines go into oblivion, new ones are emerging bringing in their aircraft of different sizes and shapes requiring space big enough to park and maneuver. If such spaces are occupied by aircraft no longer in flight, there are bound to be friction, incidents or even accident on the airside which could lead to blame game among stakeholders.
Apart from space, as they are left to rust and rot by insolvent aviation companies, they become an eyesore and habitation for creepy animals of all sorts, such animals could also find their way into aircraft parked and ready to embark on flight.
It is a fact that snakes, Scorpios and others have been found in aircraft, though not in Nigeria but how they got there may not be known but there is every likelihood that if an aircraft is left on the airside for a long time, it could attract reptiles and creepy animals from nearby bushes.
“What we are doing is part of the services FAAN is providing; comfort and security. So, for security, these aircraft have been abandoned at the airport for long and miscreants can just go in there and do whatever they want. We want our airports to look beautiful and fine, the aircraft that are littered around, it defaces the beauty of our airside.”says Mrs Yakubu
On the other hand, such aircraft could also be used to breech security on the airside, anyone with bad intention to harm civil aviation can jump through the fence into the airport and use such aircraft to launch an attack, this is scary. The recent stories of bags taken from a moving aircraft is still very fresh, though still being verified. As the saying goes, Prevention is better the Cure.
Perhaps, it is against this background FAAN is all out to protect its territory and the people therein.
The Authority had even gone further to commence the installation of Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras to monitor activities on the airside, at the different locations to forestall aircraft poaching and other incidences to improve security at the airside of the airport.
The Authority is also to acquire a Hi-tech mobile security gadgets fitted with cameras that can capture anything from 7 meters away, all these to monitor any incursion on restricted areas, as disclosed recently by the FAAN Managing Director, Engr. Saleh. Dunoma.
Plans are also in place to acquire more vehicles called the ‘follow me Vehicles to accompany aircraft arriving or taking off to ensure the safety of that aircraft
According to the FAAN spokesperson“What we had in the past was that the ‘Follow Me’ vehicle used to be in the front of aircraft, but we have decided to reverse the order. The vehicles are now at the back of the aircraft to ensure that the aircraft go to parking bay without any incident or aircraft poaching,”
FAAN as the manager of airports in the country, its is expected to to provide facilities for safety, comfort and security which will aid easy facilitation of both passengers and cargo.
However, managing 22 airports is a big responsibility, efforts are on to carry out these duties, the evidence are there that it is committed to fulfilling these duties, so if FAAN is to succeed in discharging these duties, all stakeholders must join hands with FAAN to ensure the safety and security of everyone.
