FAAN in dire need of aircraft parking space regulation review to free aprons
Space crisis is currently hobbling several airports in Nigeria both local and international.
Checks and observations during a recent tour of aprons at Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) show that abandoned aircraft are shortening available parking space. The same crisis is rocking other airports including Imo Airport where some weed-grown aircraft litter and occupy spaces including an abandoned Oriental Air craft.
Investigations show that the only airport that does not have cases of abandoned aircraft is Ibom International Airport because of its newness.
Explaining the handicap of the Authority during a tour, the Regional General Manager (South West) and Airport Manager, Victoria Shin-Aba, said during a tour of the facility that abandoned aircraft are making operations difficult for active aeroplanes.
He said the agency is hampered by existing provisions which failed to give time limit for any abandoned aircraft at any Nigerian airport.
Business Hilights observed that some out-of-use aircraft had been there for over five years occupying spaces for active aircraft and spaces at both cargo and passenger terminals, thus limiting operating spaces for wide-body foreign carriers.
Federal Aviation Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) official however explained that the agency was unrelenting in the quest to expand the aprons and parking spaces to cope with growing demand, saying FAAN is in dire need of a review of provisions on parking rights and charges for home-base airlines would curb excesses of many operators.
In Lagos, two aircraft –belonging to Allied Air and Med-View’s B777 plane – occupied spaces, reducing the cargo apron to a lot for two, thus forcing DHL to mull relocating to Ghana where space usage regulation did not allow for endless parking like in Nigeria.
Whereas within the international passengers’ end, three B777 owned by Air Peace and an unserviceable B737-800 owned by Arik Air were parked, at the domestic end of the airport, multiple abandoned aircraft and helicopters were on ground with weeds climbing on many.
On efforts to reclaim occupied spaces, Shin Aba told Business Hilights that “We are reaching out to the airlines. Not all the aircraft on the apron are unserviceable, some are very serviceable. We are talking to them and some are seeing our reason and we hope to continue the overture. This is why FAAN is willing to waive payment for them, if they agree to take their parked aircraft to airports with less traffic.”
She argued that the best bet for resolving the space crisis is to review FAAN bye laws that deal with the issue of aircraft parking.
