The infrastructure deficit is one of the major problems holding back aviation sector development
There are many factors hampering safe, smooth and successful airline operation in Nigeria. These factors are also responsibility for non-viability of Nigerian airlines besides high charges and high tariff on imported aircraft parts.
No one airport in Nigeria can be compared to a major airport in the continent because none has been certified by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and there is no discernible effort towards certifying them, although the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) said the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja and the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos are being prepared for certification.
Although some airports have a semblance of airfield lighting but only four airports in the country have comprehensive airfield lighting and they are the airports in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Kano. Other airports lack this very important facility so they cannot take in flights in the night.
There are many other equipment and facilities that are lacking in these airports. Some of the airports have malfunctioning instrument landing system (ILS), which lost their viability due to old age and lack of maintenance. They have not been replaced.
Also, communication in the airspace is yet to be perfected, although efforts are being made to improve communication between pilots and air traffic controllers. It is expected that calibration be done every six months on instrument landing system, while VHF Omni Directional Radio Range (VOR) should be calibrated every 12 months.
However, an engineer and a senior official of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) said that this equipment is calibrated periodically on a scheduled programme.
“We make sure we don’t miss it. We use it to check the integrity of the equipment to ensure that it gives the expected signal and also ensure that it has acceptable level of deviation. We are even acquiring more VOR. In fact, we recently acquired six, which we intend to use to replace old ones at the airports like Lagos. Nobody jokes with navigational aids,” the official said.
The official also said that all the landing aids in Nigeria are at Category 2, which determines how the regulatory body would set the weather minima. He said if these equipment could be upgraded and Nigeria migrates to the higher level, which is Category 3 C, the weather minima could be reduced, which means, for example, at lower visibility, aircraft can land at the nation’s airports.
However, he noted that for this to happen, it is not only the Category 3 C equipment that should be provided; but other facilities at the airport must be upgraded to meet that standard, including fire cover and airfield lighting. If Nigeria is on Category 3C, it means that all airports would have airfield lighting and other upgraded landing aids.
On the issue of communication, the official said the NAMA is addressing the issue, adding that the agency is developing its satellite navigation to the extent that international airlines are now utilising the service. He also observed that it is more economical in the long run and it is the way of modern technology, so it won’t be advisable to continue to invest in landing aids.
Airport Facilities
Resource persons who made presentations at the First Anniversary Colloquium of Nigeria Travel Smart, an online medium said that Nigerian government was not visionary when it built all the airports in the country because the airports were not built for the future.
Former CEO of Virgin Nigeria, Captain Dapo Olumide said Nigeria started getting things wrong in aviation from 1983 and urged that government should look back to determine where it got things wrong in order to chart a better plan for the future “because you cannot determine your future without the past.”
“You cannot go anywhere without a good infrastructure. Airbus A380 (the biggest passenger aircraft in the world) can land at the Lagos and Abuja airports, but how do you disembark the passengers. The airport terminals do not have the facilities to disembark about 500 passengers at the same time. It is true that Harmattan reduces visibility, but you can land at zero visibility at airports if there is enough lighting.
“The only lighting at the airside of the Lagos airport is at the runway. In other airports in the world, when you are flying into the airport the passenger who is looking through the window will know they have flown into the airport space by the bright lights, but in Nigeria, when you fly into Lagos airport, you will notice it because what you will see is thick darkness.
“The avio-bridges stopped working in 1985. With all these steps there has been no lessons learnt. The problem is, we have set mediocrity to be the new benchmark of excellence in our country. This is because we have adjusted our minds to a new low. The only way we can move forward is to re-develop our airport infrastructure,” Olumide said.
Infrastructure Challenges
In his presentation at the Colloquium, the CEO of Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL), Christophe Penninck said you could have successful airlines only if you have well-developed infrastructure. He noted that Nigeria lacks both a strong airline and a good airport.
Penninck adduced this to many factors which include no constant electricity, legal issues tampering on development; for example, legal tussles over government agreements on airport development with the private sector and high taxes on importation of equipment and spares.
Other factors include unavailability of foreign currency, too many authorities with conflicting interests, too many airports in the country and poor road infrastructure for the delivery of freighted cargo.
But the BASL CEO said that Nigeria has potential to develop aviation into huge revenue source and significant contributor to the GDP. Part of this potential is Nigeria’s huge population and because of its size, domestic travel is very important and if well developed, could enable local airlines to be viable. Nigeria is also the largest economy in Africa with many trader and businessmen that crisscross the continent doing business.
Nigeria has a large Diaspora population with ready investors and population of well-educated men and women.
Airport Development Models
Penninck said for Nigeria to develop its airport infrastructure, it must have to privatise and offer different models of privatisation, which include full privatisation, joint venture and management contract.
He explained that the management contract style must be run like a private sector; electricity must be constant, landing and navigational aids must be upgraded and the fiscal environment must change, as domestic airlines must get some level of protectionism. This would give rise to the review of multidesignation of foreign airlines to various airports in Nigeria. He also said that agricultural goods must be transported by air, which means that cold room facilities must be developed at the cargo terminals.
FAAN’s Burden
Penninck said out of 22 airports under the management of FAAN, only about four are profitable. The are airports in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Kano. He suggested that to make the other airports viable, government must consider the takeover of these airports by the states where they are located; otherwise they could be closed.
He also suggested that FAAN could be divided into three organisations and should not be an authority anymore, adding that the agency could be privatised and there would not be any government money needed to do this.
The BASL CEO also said that it would benefit the federal government if FAAN becomes more efficient but as it is now, “FAAN cannot present good performance because it is not transparent with its revenue, its tenders and hiring processes.”
Penninck also said the agency could not prioritise on such essentials like maintenance of current airport terminals, provision of power, upgrade of runway, remarking that FAAN does not seek for new airlines or support stakeholders.
Investment in Infrastructure
Penninck observed that presently there is no much investment in infrastructure; that government may not have the resources to do this and therefore should seek the services of the privates sector to actualise the revamp of airport facilities. He said FAAN should strive to have better relationship with stakeholders, which would in turn improve the image of Nigeria, adding that better infrastructure would provide the platform for airlines to grow and be profitable. It would also enhance efficiency.
Industry consultant, Chris Aligbe at the event reiterated position that airport terminals should be given out in concession, noting that it is the best option for better management of the facilities. He opposed full privatisation and said that Nigeria is not ready for that and cited example with the success of the Murtala Muhammed Airport 2, popularly known as MMA2, which is the domestic terminal that was built and being managed by BASL under concession agreement.
There was unanimous agreement that for transformative change to happen to the airport infrastructure across the country the private sector must inject its funds but the onus is on government to decide the modus of operation through which this could be done.
