The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) has blamed the frequent diversions of flights by foreign airlines into the Murtala Mohammed international airport Lagos to inclement weather and company mininas of affected Airlines.
The agency says it, “noted with concern, the inability of some international flights to land at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos, largely due to issues of inclement weather and company minimas of affected airlines. Our position is that such diversions are in the interest of safety.”
General Manager public affairs, Mr. Khalid Emele in a statement said the Instrument Landing Systems, ILS on the two runways ofbthe Lagos airports are serviceable.
“The facts on record however are as follows: Lagos has two runways- 18 Right and 18 Left. The Doppler Very High Omni-Directional Radio Range (DVOR) and the Distance Measuring Equipment (DME) at the airport have successfully been calibrated and passed 100%.”
He added, “The localizer (a component of the Instrument Landing System) responsible for horizontal guidance at runway 18 Left has also passed 100% calibration while the glide slope (which is another component of the Instrument Landing System that provides vertical guidance) is undergoing routine maintenance and by tomorrow (12/02/2020), the maintenance will be concluded and the equipment shall be fully on air.”
“On Runway 18 Right, there is Category 3 ILS which is still undergoing installation. Presently, Selex Systems, the contractors are working on the realignment of its parameters, preparatory to the calibration and commissioning of the equipment in the shortest possible time.”
He reassures airspace users and the general public that the Nigerian Airspace remains safe for seamless, and economic air travel and regret any inconveniences caused.
Yesterday, British airways was reported to have diverted to Accra as the weather in Lagos continues to fluatuate.
Some of the airlines due to safety concerns have continued to apologise and seek passengers understanding on the development described as ‘usual’.
This is one of the a typical apology onboard the flight,”Apologies ladies and gentlemen this is your captain speaking, unfortunately for safety reasons we cannot land in Lagos this evening but will proceed to Accra and wait until Nigeria resets and gets itself right…. we apologize for the usual situation….”
According to investigations, the foreign carriers are diverting to Accra because the weather there is good which is not same in Nigeria.
A stakeholder say every country has its weather, Accra can be good today, tomorrow it might also be bad, urging Airlines to exercise patience while the weather improves.
“Currently, Accra us 3,000 meters, Cotonou is about 600 meters worse than Nigeria. Lagos is 1,000 meters for time and it has fluctuated to about 800 meters. “
