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Stories by Louis Ibah
Stakeholders in the aviation industry have expressed serious concern over the unfriendly nature of Nigerian airport terminals to both passengers and operating airlines calling for massive reforms and provision of infrastructure could that match those found at airport terminals in other countries.
Some participants at the aviation forum organised by the Aviation Round Table (ART) in Lagos recently listed the poor state of facilities across Nigerian airport as well as the heavy taxes on airlines as creating conditions have rendered Nigerian airports unfriendly to passengers and airlines.
Indeed, it is the unfriendly nature of Nigerian airports, especially the high cost of landing, parking and navigational charges that have led to the astronomical increase in the cost of airfares from Nigeria’s international airports as against what is obtainable in neighbouring countries.
Traffic moves to W’African airports
Daily Sun learnt that in recent months, there has been a rise in the number of air travelers going by road from Nigeria to board international flights to Europe and America through neighbouring West African countries of Ghana, Benin and Togo where fares are far cheaper.
Former President of the National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NATA), Mr. Aminu Agoha said it cost about N1.8million more flying out from an international airport in Nigeria than flying out of Accra, Ghana.
He listed fare disparity as the number one source of worry to travel agents and for which President Muhammdu Buhari should look into.
“We see no reason why a flight ticket from Accra, Ghana to Europe or USA on some airlines would be cheaper than from Lagos to the same destinations on the same airline. The disparity in fares is alarming,” said Agoha. “For instance, a first class ticket to Las Vegas, USA from Lagos is N1.8million more than a first class ticket to the same destination from Accra. Nigerian travelers are now developing Ghanaian economy as their travel agencies are making huge sales from them while most Nigerian agencies are folding up,” he added.
But it is not just Ghana that is benefitting from the crisis in Nigeria, Togo and Benin Republic are the other beneficiaries more Nigerians now prefer to use cheaper fares provided by Asky Airline or Ethiopian Airline to connect flights abroad.
“You don’t need a visa to travel within West Africa. It’s just a question of bearing the little stress of traveling by road from Nigeria to Benin, Togo, or Ghana. Once you can do that, you have a cheaper fare to travel abroad,” said Adamu Ibrahim.
ART worries
President of the Aviation Round Table (ART), Mr. Gabriel Olowo in an opening address at the ART forum lamented the decay in infrastructure at the airports saying the sad development has affected the country’s ability to effectively tap its aviation sector potential for economic prosperity. “The aviation sector is experiencing infrastructural deficit and decay and we all have to rise and find a solution to the problem,” said Olowo.
Recently, the Federal Government through its Executive Orders brought some reforms at the Lagos and Abuja international airports including the harmonisation of security checks for outgoing passengers, electronic scanning of baggage, and improvements in the air conditioning, toilets, car parks, and sanitary conditions of the airports. But it is not the same story across all the airports, especially the domestic terminals.
For instance, at the Lagos airport, apart from the high taxes which foreign airlines blame for the high cost of fares, the airport still has some flaws which need to be rectified if it is to ranked among the world’s top passenger friendly airport.
The Managing Director of Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited, Capt. Jari Williams, faulted the absence of a mono rail linking the domestic and international airports noting that on several occasions, at peak vehicular traffic moments, some passengers attempting to connect flights between the international and local airports have missed their flights.
“It is sad that up till now we still cannot connect by rail passengers moving from the local to international terminals of the Lagos airport. This is very unfriendly to passengers and airlines,” said Williams. “The MMA has to be re-jigged to facilitate train movements between the various terminals and ease passenger movements as it is done in other world-class airports,” he added.
“You can’t spend 45 minutes from Calabar to Lagos airport by air. But if you land in Lagos airport and there is traffic, you spend one hour from GAT or MM2 to International terminal and end up missing the flight. That way, the essence of flying from Calabar to Lagos which is to gain speed is lost,” said Eno Abraham, a passenger who spoke to Daily Sun on the trend.
But what most passengers decry most about Nigerian airports is the state of the toilets, and this appears to be like a common plague across all the airports.
At the Mallam Aminu Kano Airport, a passenger who gave his name as Donatus told Daily Sun that passengers have to queue to use toilets and other conveniences because the domestic airport terminal has just one lavatory for about 150 passengers.
“Last week I travelled from Abuja to Kano and I was shocked when we alighted and I went to use the male toilet only to be confronted with the sight of other passengers queuing to use the only lavatory provided for men. It was a very ugly scene,” he added.
Similarly, former Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Dr. Harold Demuren, who spoke at the Aviation Round Table (ART) forum lamented the unfriendly nature of Nigerian airports pointing out that airlines needs vibrant airports to grow. Demuren however pointed out the absence of free internet and wi-fi facilities across Nigerian airport as one of the items making Nigerian airports passenger unfriendly.
“Our airport terminals must be passenger friendly like it is done in the foreign countries that we travel to,” Demuren said. “It is that bad that we don’t have free wi-fi in our airports. That should be part of the infrastructure provided for passengers to attract patronage and improve convenience,” he added.
He also faulted the continuous presence of both Immigration and DSS officials at the counters at the entry points saying such screening method was outdated. He said with modern technology, passengers entering world-class airports are only screened by one immigration officer who looks at the passport, the finger, the personal data, the looks of the person and decides if he or she meets the criteria to be admitted into the country or not.
