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Chinelo Obogo [email protected] 07064781119
The month of February will pass in history as one of the most turbulent months in Nigeria’s aviation industry as it exposed the weaknesses of the nation’s aviation infrastructure. It a development that also came with a huge discomfort for the travelling public and loss of revenue to aviation regulators, transporters and even ground handling companies in the aviation industry. This happened after a couple of international flights meant to touch down at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, were diverted to Ghana and Togo among other countries due to poor visibility occasioned by harmattan dust haze
As storm Ciara swept through Europe, causing many airlines to cancel over 135 flights to the United Kingdom, Germany and Netherlands according to CNN, Nigeria was also experiencing one of its worst weathers yet leading to the diversion of flights by airlines like British Airways and Emirates to Accra, Ghana. The reason given was that their aircraft couldn’t land in Lagos because the Instrument Landing System which guides pilots in navigating aircraft to land, especially during inclement weather, was malfunctioning at the time. The development caused hardship to most Nigerians as aviation officials battled to explain what went wrong.
Like storm Ciara, the harmattan haze was so severe that it reduced visibility to below 800 minima and the Nigerian Aviation Management Agency (NAMA) was heavily criticised for removing the existing Category 2 ILS while the calibration of the Category 3 was still ongoing. NAMA had removed the Category 2 ILS in November last year and replaced it with Category 3, which is an improvement on Cat 2. Though Cat 2 can take the pilot to 400 meters to the runway, Cat 3 can take the pilot to the runway at zero visibility.
The domestic carriers were not exempted from the effect of the weather as they also incurred losses after many flight cancellations as airports in states like Port Harcourt, Kaduna, Abuja, Kano and Asaba, were seriously affected by the adverse weather. Most of the carriers had apologised to customers, explaining that the inclement weather was mostly responsible for the cancellations. Arik Air for instance said in one of such apologies “This is to inform all our esteemed customers who have had the difficulty in reaching their various destinations through our flights that the current challenge is due to inclement weather. This poor and persistent weather condition has mostly affected our Port Harcourt, Kaduna, Warri, Asaba, Yola and Sokoto routes.”
The Minister of Aviation, Hadi, said in a statement through the director of public affairs, James Odaudu, said that the Federal Government decided to upgrade key airports in the country to CAT 3 ILS, which allows flights even in zero visibility, unlike CAT 2 ILS is what many countries still use at their airports.
He then apologised to passengers for the hardship caused by the diversions, cancellations and delays, explaining what went wrong and the efforts made by NAMA to remedy the situation. He also debunked reports that the calibration aircraft which was purchased last year wasn’t used for the upgrade. He said:“Nigeria, for the first time in a long time, acquired a calibration plane to facilitate easy calibration of the navigational equipment and also stop the practice whereby a calibration plane is hired for $500,000 each time. The CAT III ILS in Abuja is working perfectly but after calibration, some inaccurate readings were noticed in the CAT III ILS AT runway 18R (for international flights) at the MMIA. Unfortunately, it was in the process of re-calibrating that the weather situation in Lagos changed for the worse, hence the disruption of international flights into Lagos.
“Some airlines opted to divert their flights to Kotoka airport (CAT II ILS) in Ghana, leaving innocent travelers stranded, when they could have easily diverted to Abuja (CAT III ILS), where flights to Lagos are regular.
“The weather phenomenon that reduced visibility at the International wing of the MMA is not unique to Nigeria. As this was happening in Nigeria, over 100 flights were being cancelled within the span of one week at Heathrow in London. The situation at the runway 18R at the MMA is being rectified and normal flights will resume shortly.”
However just last week, NAMA successfully commissioned its newly installed Category 3 ILS at Runway 18 Right, of MMIA, Lagos as well as Runway 22 at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja. The calibration was done with the aircraft recently bought by the Federal Government at a cost of $8.5 million.
The flight commissioning of the newly installed DVOR (Doppler Very High Frequency Omni-Directional Radio Range) and routine flight calibration was successfully carried out on Runway 18 Left in Lagos.
The Managing Director of NAMA, Capt. Fola Akinkuotu, said a NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) that calibration of navigational aids in other locations across the country was in progress.
“In spite of initial hitches, it is gratifying to note that Runway 18R in Lagos has been certified for CAT 3 just as Runway 22 in Abuja with the newly acquired calibration aircraft by the Aviation Ministry. Both facilities are now fully operational,” Akinkuotu said.
On the way forward for the industry, Head, Research, Zenith Consult and Travels, Olumide Ohunayo, said in an opinion piece that the Federal Ministry of Aviation needs to hand over the new calibration aircraft to NAMA to manage and commercialise in order to recoup the funds spent to purchase it. He also said the Ministry of Aviation should hands off procurement of equipment, announcement of project or managing of the new calibration aircraft.
“On the way forward, NCAA should ensure that scheduled and mandatory maintenance and caliberations of the navigational and landing aids in all the airports are done timely and in a sustained manner in line with regulations.
“The new calibration aircraft bought for the country should be handed over to NAMA and commercialised to recoup funds expended and should also generate money. The Ministry should please hands off procurement of equipment, announcement of project or managing of the new calibration aircraft. Rather, it should focus on policy direction guiding air navigation, air transport and provision of infrastructure.
“We also implore the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to fix the runway light on 18L to make it available for night operations while also extending the operating hours of some of our airports. It is a little wonder that the Ilorin airport which serves as an alternative to Lagos shuts down at 1800 hours, while it runs for 24 hours during hajj,” Ohunayo said.
