Relics of yesteryear

By Chinelo Obogo

From the bustling metropolis of Lagos to the historic city of Kano and the administrative heart of Abuja, Nigeria’s airports have transformed into eerie graveyards for once-thriving domestic airlines. These former symbols of national pride now stand as haunting reminders of a bygone era.

At the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, Daily Sun counted over 10 abandoned aircraft, including three helicopters, scattered across the tarmac. Their bodies are etched with the wear and tear of neglect. Among them are remnants of airlines that once dominated the skies. Arik Air, once a domestic giant and other smaller airlines have aircraft littering the airport.

This troubling scene is mirrored in airports across the country. The presence of these ghostly relics not only mars the aesthetic appeal of the airports but also poses significant safety and environmental hazards, creating a pressing need for comprehensive strategies to address this growing issue.

In Kano, the rusted remains of jetliners belonging to Kabo Air remain a source of contention between the defunct airline and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).

For the flying public, these abandoned aircraft are more than just metal objects; they are sad evidence of the industry’s challenges. Covered in fungi and surrounded by weeds, they have become inadvertent habitats for reptiles and dangerous animals. Their presence is an indictment of the nation’s afflictions.

A sad spectacle on the tarmac

As passengers disembark at one of the nation’s major airports, they are often confronted with a sad spectacle. Ghostly remains of two aircraft greet them, once vibrant symbols of a bustling airline now lying desolate. The defunct operator, which Daily Sun has chosen not to name, went bankrupt. Beneath the weather-beaten skin of these aircraft lies a tale of illicit business.

Daily Sun learned that this defunct operator, which closed shop over a decade ago, still had unused spare parts in its store. These components miraculously found their way into a still-operational airline without the approval of the regulatory agency. In a desperate bid to expand its fleet, this operational airline attempted to evade the scrutiny of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) by purchasing one of the abandoned aircraft until a meticulous safety audit blew its cover, exposed many infractions and ultimately led to the suspension of its operations.

The burden of maintaining the aerodromes is FAAN’s responsibility.

When Daily Sun inquired why abandoned aircraft have been allowed to deface the nation’s airports for decades, a senior FAAN official, who preferred not to be named, explained that the Authority has been grappling with the formidable challenge and currently fine-tuning strategies to get around it.

The source said that airlines, facing economic hardship and regulatory burdens, often resort to desperate measures for survival. Serviceable components are usually cannibalized from one ailing aircraft to prolong the life of another. Consequently, the cannibalized aircraft gradually becomes a ghostly plane, overgrown with weeds and ravaged by the weather.

These abandoned aircraft pose significant safety hazards and complicate airport operations and maintenance.

“They are eyesores that mar the aesthetic appeal of our airports,” the official said.

“Seeing these equipment littered all over the place makes management of the aerodrome difficult. To get tractors in to cut down the grasses is very challenging because you might damage the aircraft, creating another problem. It poses a serious security threat too.”

The official also mentioned that airlines enjoy certain privileges because of their operational bases, including exemptions from some fees. This contributes to the proliferation of abandoned aircraft, as airlines take advantage of these privileges, totally insulated from bearing the costs of long-term parking.

Legal quagmire

Legal and financial entanglements further compound the issue. Many of these aircraft are leased or the airline operators owe banks, creating creditor claims that impede their removal. “Unfortunately, many of these aircraft are leased, so FAAN cannot just dismantle them and sell the scrap,” the official explained.

“That is why they are always in court because the lessor would not just sit by and watch you dismantle the aircraft. Some airlines are also indebted to banks where they collected loans to buy aircraft, so litigation continues.”

In Kano, FAAN has issues with two airlines where grounded aircraft cannot be sold due to debts. “The Authority is currently in court over this issue, but you cannot forcefully dismantle someone’s aircraft parked at the airport, even though you are the administrator. So, you can understand the difficulty we are facing,” the official revealed.

Growing colony of disused airplanes

Daily Sun learnt that abandoned airplanes clutter Nigerian airports due to a complex mix of financial, legal, and regulatory challenges. Amplifying the above explanation, the Chairman, National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE), Arik Air chapter, Mudi Muhammed, an aircraft engineer, explained that forex scarcity is at the heart of the challenge of abandoned airplanes.

“Planes require periodic maintenance, and their lifespans are measured in hours of flight. After 12 to 18 months, a C-check usually carried out in maintenance facilities abroad becomes imperative. However, the scarcity of foreign exchange forces operators to prioritize which aircraft to maintain, often leading to the abandonment of others”, he explained.

Muhammed added that high operational costs, including the purchase of critical spare parts, also contribute to the issue. “Most of the grounded aircraft you see are due to the lack of forex to buy spare parts for maintenance, so they have no option but to ground them,” he said.

Regulatory failure

Former managing director, Nigerian Airspace Management Authority (NAMA) and Chief Executive Officer of Top Brass Aviation, Roland Iyayi, said the absence of a regulatory framework further exacerbates the issue and makes Nigeria the unintended aircraft graveyard. FAAN is vested with the authority to enforce bye-laws governing airport operations, but due to the absence of such laws, FAAN is hamstrung.

Iyayi emphasised that airports should have designated areas for unserviceable aircraft and that FAAN must enforce bye-laws to manage abandoned aircraft. “FAAN still has the bye-laws I wrote, but they have not signed with airline companies,” he said. “When signed and approved by the Minister, these bye-laws will enable FAAN to manage abandoned aircraft issues effectively.”

FAAN Act

The FAAN Act empowers the Authority to make bye-laws for securing safety, preventing obstruction and preserving order within airports. These bye-laws, once approved by the Minister, become enforceable laws governing airport operations. However, without these bye-laws in place, FAAN must resort to lengthy court processes to address abandoned aircraft issues.

Lack of designated aircraft graveyards

For the flying public and other inquiring minds, the usual question is: where do airplanes go when they cannot fly anymore?

In developed and developing climes, retired planes are sent to aircraft boneyards, also called aircraft graveyards. These are giant, open-air parking garages for airplanes as they await their future.

But in Nigeria, disused airplanes often become habitats for animals and birds in various airports.

A flock of birds can cause a bird strike and damage airplanes or even cause a crash.

According to the Top Brass Aviation boss, Roland Iyayi, Nigeria should have designated areas for retired aircraft. He urged the government to design the retirement homes for unserviceable airplanes rather than have the airports morph into graveyards.

Citing an example of Arizona, in the US, Iyayi said there is a dedicated expanse of land where decommissioned or unserviceable aircraft are kept. The absence of designated aircraft cemeteries, he said, is a blight on the industry.

“In developed countries, you don’t find abandoned aircraft lying around at the airports. They don’t have the same issues that we have. In Arizona in America for instance, there is a place where you have over 500 aircraft parked that have either been decommissioned or taken out of service. They fly them there to park them, so you don’t find them parked at major airports like we have in Nigeria. They fly them to airports that are specifically designed to be the graveyard for aged aircraft. When you go there, you find aircraft from Australia belonging to Qantas that have been decommissioned and have flown there to be retired. Sometimes you fly them for people who are willing to put them back into service or as scrap.

“But in Nigeria, we don’t have any facility or airport that is designated as a graveyard and even it is, you find out that most airplanes become grounded at certain airports and cannot fly, so, you can’t move it from there to where you would have designated as a graveyard,” he said.

Way forward

The national president of NAAPE, Abednego Galadima, emphasised the need for a strategic approach to address the issue of abandoned aircraft. He suggested a collaborative effort between FAAN and airline operators, with a clear distinction made between decommissioned and unserviceable aircraft.

Galadima also highlighted the importance of rigorous oversight by the regulator to prevent the illicit transfer of components between aircraft. Proper documentation and adherence to maintenance procedures are crucial.

“There should be some proper way of archiving those wreckages. First, there are two categories of such aircraft; the unserviceable and the decommissioned. Those that are decommissioned are those that cannot fly any longer at all. If it is a decommissioned one, the last flight should be able to take it to an aircraft graveyard, but what we are having now in Nigeria is an aircraft graveyard and an airport at the same time. A graveyard is where decommissioned and unserviceable aircraft are stored.

“Before now, some Nigerian operators used to go to graveyards in the US to resuscitate them. Sometimes, these things have to be controlled so that we don’t have ‘bogus’ parts where people go and take some parts and recycle them. 

“For instance, if you have an aircraft that is not serviceable and you have one that is serviceable, you can take a functioning part from the unserviceable one and use it in the serviceable one but it is against the regulation. Or you would have to properly document it because every part is marked. When you say that a part is bogus, it means that it is not coming from a bonded store.

“If you have an Embraer that needs an engine change and one of your Embraer has need for a sensor that is on that one, instead of keeping both aircraft on ground, you can use the internal process, where you remove the sensor, record it, do the quality checks before you can use it. You have to follow the maintenance procedure manual and the NCAA usually carries out safety audits to check these things,” he said.

On the way forward, he said there needs to be a collaborative effort between FAAN and the airline operators.  “It is something that FAAN can call the owners and convene a stakeholders meeting and give them the cost of evacuating the aircraft though it would come at a cost and no party would want to bear the cost. The way forward is to have a meeting with those involved to avoid court cases,” he said

A FAAN official, who corroborated Galadima’s position, suggested that the management should enforce a stringent regulatory framework and hold airlines accountable for timely aircraft disposition.

“A grace period of two to three months should be granted to airline operators, after which decisive action must be taken to remove abandoned aircraft. A tripartite alliance between FAAN, airlines, and lessors is essential”, he said.

FAAN keeps mum

Daily Sun reached out to Mrs. Obiageli Orah, Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection of FAAN, to inquire about the steps the Authority is taking to clear abandoned aircraft from airports across the country. However, she did not respond to inquiries.

Nonetheless, stakeholders are unanimous about the fact that these derelict aircraft pose significant environmental and safety hazards, mar the aesthetics of airports, and hinder operational efficiency. The situation calls for comprehensive strategies to address the persistent problem and restore the functionality and appearance of Nigerian airports.

With terrorists daring to attack airports and possibly hijack taxiing aircraft, having many disused airplanes littering the aerodromes may provide the perfect cover for them to attack almost unnoticed.