Chinedu Eze writes that the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria is saddled with unviable airports with poor infrastructure and as a government agency it lacks the freedom to innovate ways to make the facilities profitable.
One of the major challenges the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) is facing is that it earns profitable revenue from four airports and deploys the revenue to manage 24 airports. From its lean earnings, the agency still pays 50 per cent compulsory remittances to the Federal Government.
This explains why many of the airports under its management do not have airfield lighting. This also explains why many of the airports do not have state-of-the-art facilities and this also explains why it takes a long time for the agency to rehabilitate airport infrastructure that have become obsolete or broken.
Inside sources told THISDAY that FAAN does not have adequately trained staff because many of them do not undergo training as at when due. Aviation emphasizes continuous training and retraining, especially in the technical areas, but this is not possible due to paucity of funds. In many departments, especially in the technical areas, the agency is short staffed. This is why there are fewer Aviation Security (AVSEC) personnel at the central search at the E and D gates of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, the busiest gateway in Nigeria. Because of paucity of AVSEC staff all the X-ray machines are not manned effectively, even at peak hours and that is why passenger processing takes a long time. From 5:00 pm in the evening, passengers can stand for over one hour waiting to be screened by security officials, an inside source explained to THISDAY.
Compared to other airports in Africa, no Nigerian airports is among the first 10 best airports in Africa and Nigeria has 24 airports under FAAN management in addition to the about 5 airports built and managed by the state governments. Industry observers said functionality is what characterizes a good airport. That is why the airport in Togo is said to be better than any Nigerian airport. Katoka International Airport, Accra is rated higher than MMIA.
Former private jet charter operator told THISDAY that modern international airports have effective Internet that any passenger who has boarding pass easily connects to. There should be enough seats at the departing passengers lounge and conveniences (lavatories) are well maintained and enough to adequately service passengers.
“But at the Nigerian airports there are no toilet rolls, even when there are the toilet attendants will unfold it and give you a little, as if they are doing you a favour. In addition to that; they will also be soliciting for money. When you see them, they look hungry and sometimes unkept. All these are what non-Nigerian passengers see and write us off. And there have never been any efforts to correct these lapses, as Managing Directors of FAAN come and go and as Ministers of Aviation come and go,” he said.
Interferences
FAAN is the aviation agency that suffer the greatest interference from the Ministry of Aviation. FAAN officials told THISDAY that many decisions and actions in FAAN are taken directly from the Ministry of Aviation; that the former Minister of Aviation simply micromanaged the agencies, especially FAAN.
“You can come in and see some people installing equipment at the international terminal of the Lagos airport. You make inquiries and you find out that the Managing Director is not aware of that. They will tell you they got approval from the Ministry. So, the Managing Director is not even free to manage the airports. He or she must resort to the Ministry to get approval for most things. Now, most of our earnings go to them. Recently because of the dollar and naira disparity, everybody is now eyeing the revenue of FAAN, even as we are already paying the compulsory remittances,” a FAAN official told THISDAY.
Some FAAN officials are of the view that FAAN can effectively manage the airports if it is given some levels of autonomy enshrined in the Act and not arbitrary decision taken by the President of the time. They said FAAN should be run as a corporate organization with members of the board and transparent management.
“We know our airports are not operating with the global standard, but that is where we see ourselves. All those airports they cite as examples are run differently. You can go and check. We are just the child of the Ministry. Ministry is our mother that tell us what they do, but instead of giving us food to eat; they take the ones we have got. It is a pity,” another FAAN official told THISDAY.
FAAN and State Airports
Some state governments had built airports and when they realized that they would not be able to fund its maintenance, they hand them over to FAAN through the approval of the Ministry of Aviation. So, in addition to the management of the existing Federal Government, FAAN was also burdened with the financing of the maintenance of such airports in Kebbi, Bauchi, Gombe and others.
The Managing Director of Flight and Logistics Solutions Limited, Amos Akpan has urged state governments not to embark on building airports when they know they do not have the resources to manage them. Airports have to be viable to sustain their operations and they need high calibre personnel to maintain and run them.
“Any state government that has the privilege to build airport and name it international airport should be able to provide infrastructures as platform for socio economic development of the state of which airport is one such critical infrastructure. But the state government need to think through before they embark on building international airport. If they don’t have it intentionally planned and executed to yield desired returns, it will become a financial liability, a white elephant project, dependent on financial support from the state government. This often lead to the political decision of handing over the airport to the Federal Government (FAAN).
Akpan said the basic questions the state government must find answers to before they embark on building Cargo Airport include: What produce/products can be produced within the state? For example fresh tomato is a produce, while canned tomato puree is a product. Hibiscus flower is a produce, while bottled zobo drink is a product. What other infrastructures will that state have to put in place to facilitate the production of those produce/products? For example, dependable source of power, rail transport, storage facilities, and connectivity between the produce source, the processing plants, and the cargo terminal. Are the produce/products you produce acceptable in quality and standards by your target market? For example, are your fresh pineapple fruit or packaged pineapple juice acceptable in Canadian or British markets?
“When an airport does not attract traffic, namely: import/export cargo, processing, packaging, labelling, and handling companies, agents etc; that airport will not generate sufficient revenue to sustain its cost of operations. This is the reason the state government should deliberately encourage business activities that the airport will depend on their patronage for financial sustainability.
“When states build airport and hand over to FAAN, they add to the burden of FAAN – over bloated staff, airport whose revenue is less than the required cost of sustenance. This can be avoided if the state government thought through before building the airport. Why build an airport hoping to rely on generator and the existing public electric power supply system in Nigeria? Existing and potential traffic data in cities near the airport should influence the design and infrastructures for the airport,” he said.
Building another Airport
The Secretary General of Aviation Round Table (ART) Mr. Olumide Ohunayo advised the state government not to embark on building another airport, a cargo airport; rather, he should concentrate and work with FAAN to upgrade the Minna airport.
Ohunayo advised the Governor who is investing heavily in agriculture to build cargo terminal in the existing airport instead of building a new cargo facility. The Governor plans to build the cargo airport and use it to be evacuating farm produce from the state, but Ohunayo insisted that the existing airport could take more infrastructure design for cargo.
This is pertinent because industry stakeholders believe that in the near future the state government might not be able to sustain the funding of the new airport and it would be handed over to FAAN to increase the agency’s financial burden.
Ohunayo therefore urged the Governor to build cargo structures right in the existing airport.
“They should build the cargo facility at this same airport and make maximum use of the airport rather than going to have another airport within the state. And we will now have two underutilized airports. Yes, they have enough land that can be used to expand the present one and make it more accessible to bigger aircraft rather than going to build something afresh. That is just wasting the limited resources of the state. And this is a state that is not one of the first 10 in the amount it earns as internally generated revenue. I think it is better to expand the one available to whatever level they want, to whatever aspirations they have for the state rather than going to build a brand-new airport,” ART Secretary General advised.
He also commended the state government to have improved activities at the Minna airport; that now it has become more active and more flights operate to the facility.
“I also applaud the government because they have now taken the activities at the airport beyond hajj operations and private charter services to see how they can develop their economy. But then in doing that, they should not go into a wasteful venture of starting another airport. The present airport can be expanded to accommodate their aspirations if they need to look at option B. And like they say, option A is a good option. I learnt option B is expanding a present airport,” he said.
The Federal Government should review FAAN operations and find ways to make it more profitable. Many in the industry suggest that FAAN should have autonomous management while it remains a government agency. But the government should allow the agency to operate as independent entity, taking its own decision and exploring ways to enable the agency to efficiently manage the airports under its care by modernizing and making them serve travellers better.
