Pilots and Air Traffic Controllers, ATCs in the country have called on the Minister of Aviation and heads of aviation agencies to as a matter of urgency fix the lighting on the domestic runway of the Lagos Airport.
They made the called at the just concluded Air Traffic Controllers and Pilots forum in Lagos.
Chairman of the forum, Mr. Ahmad Abba said, the absence of lighting on the runway had both safety and economic implications.
He explained that an aircraft taxing for at least 10-15 minutes after landing, criss-crossing each other between the international wing and the local wing of the airports places huge economic burden on airline operators.
According to him, in the process of aircraft criss-crossing any thing could happen to hamper passenger and aircraft safety, adding the number of minutes taxing after landing consumes a lot of fuel.
Mr. Abba also drew attention to the closure of the central taxiway of the Lagos which had been closed for over 10 years.
He appealed to government to look into it urgently as well as the second runway for the Abuja airport.
Also speaking, the President, Nigerian Air Traffic Controllers Association, NATCA, Mr. Yomi Agoro harped on training and retraining for operational and technical staff.
He stated that there was a deficit in training and requisite exposure that had been lacking lately and this must urgently be addressed to avoid jeopardizing safety and impair the nation’s International Civil Aviation Organization, ICAO and the US Federal Aviation Administration, FAA ratings.
The NATCA President frown at the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency’s NAMA, training priority for support staff, adding that NAMA expend lots of fund to train support staff on administrative courses abroad while relevant personnel were not given the needed attention in this area.
