National Assembly Committee on Aviation recently undertook a tour of international airports in Enugu, Port Harcourt and Lagos. At the end of the exercise, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Aviation, Senator Adamu Aliero, and his counterpart in the House of Representatives, Ms. Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, spoke on the state of facilities at the airports. IME AKPAN reports
One thing that has remained conspicuous in these facilities is abandoned projects.
The proposed concession of four prime airports as well as the lingering crisis between the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Ltd (BASL) over the tenure of concession of the Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal 2 are some other issues hanging in the balance.
Terrible state of Enugu International Airport
Alieri – The tour started from Enugu Airport down to Port Harcourt and now we are at the Lagos Airport. We made a number of observations beginning from Enugu Airport. At Enugu Airport, the runway is not smooth. We observed that there are potholes and it is not good for aircraft to land. There are a number of airlines going there; we have Aero Contractors, Arik Air and international airlines like Ethiopian Airlines. One of the airlines has withdrawn its operations to that airport. The approach light is not there which means that aircraft cannot land in the night despite the fact that it has landing lights. There is no 24-hour supply of water and that is not befitting for an international airport. You cannot call that airport ‘international’ if it does not have running water.
Concerning the abandoned contract at the airport, irrespective of whoever is the contractor, we want public money spent judiciously and prudently. We don’t care whoever the contractor is. Once you are given a job, we want that job done according to specification so that the tax payers’ money will not be wasted.
Not-so-good state of Port Harcourt International Airport
At the Port Harcourt Airport, we observed that the terminal building under construction has been abandoned for over two years. We learnt that the vice president gave them a target time to complete the job. When we get back we are going to call the minister and the contractor to brief us. We will be calling for sanctions. Port Harcourt deserves a befitting airport; it is in the oil city of Nigeria where a number of oil companies operate. It is the gateway to the south-south. We are going to work with the Ministry of Aviation and ensure that all the outstanding contracts are executed on time. As far as the terminal built by the Chinese is concerned, work is going on. We are satisfied with what we have seen; the only thing is that the speed of work is a little bit slow and we urged them to speed up and finish on time.
China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation delay at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos
Here in Lagos, we conducted oversight particularly on the runway, the terminal built by the Chinese is built to standard and it is going to be one of the best in Nigeria. We are satisfied with what we have seen. The only thing is that there is a delay on the completion date and we hope that by next year they will deliver the project. Other projects inspected, the power house, there is a problem there. But we will work together with the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and make sure we give them all the support it requires to make it functional. Otherwise, when there is a blackout it will be a disaster at the airport.
Controversy about tenure of concession of MMA2 terminal
We have come to the terminal built and operated by Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Ltd (BASL); there is a lingering crisis between FAAN and BASL. Without any prejudice to whatever case they have in court we will try to see if we can resolve the crisis in a legislative manner. Both parties have to come down.
If we are going to wade into any issue, we have to look at the documents. They (BASL) said they have one agreement that signed the concession for 12 years and another one for 36 years. Based on that, we asked them to supply us with those documents.
Transparency of proposed concession of four international airports
On airport concession, we would not want to put the cart before the horse. Let the transactional adviser come up with the advice it has for the ministry (of aviation) before we comment. If the concession is going to be done in a very transparent and credible manner we will support it. But a concession that will be done in a shoddy way, giving our national assets to your cronies, definitely will not be supported by any legislator and we will do our very best to ensure that the right thing is done.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) in collaboration with Airports Council International (ACI) has launched the New Experience in Travel and Technologies (NEXTT) initiative.
In light of the projected doubling of air travel demand by 2036, IATA said new on-ground concepts are, and increasingly will be required to optimize the use of emerging technologies, processes and design developments.
NEXTT aims to help deliver this future by developing a common vision to enhance the on-ground transport experience, guide industry investments and help governments improve the regulatory framework.
“We will not be able to handle the growth or evolving customer expectations with our current processes, installations and ways of doing business. And accommodating growth with ever bigger airports will be increasingly difficult if not impossible. NEXTT will address these challenges. Working with our airport partners we will explore the important changes in technology and processes to enhance the customer experience. And we will ask some fundamental questions about what really needs to happen at the airport and what can be done off-site,” said the director general and chief executive officer Alexandre de Juniac.
“NEXTT will seek to provide a seamless journey by exploring increased off-site processing options; reducing or even eliminating queues; more efficiently using space and resources through enhanced deployments of artificial intelligence and robotics; and vastly improving data sharing between stakeholders. The goal of NEXTT is finding potential ways to integrate systems and improve operations in the most secure, effective and sustainable manner for the benefit of passengers and the industry,” said the director general of ACI World, Angela Gittens.
Specifically, NEXTT will investigate how passengers, cargo, baggage and aircraft move through the complete travel journey with a focus on change in three areas:
Off-airport activities: NEXTT will explore the possibilities of transferring on-site processes off-site, such as security processing and baggage check and drop-off, to streamline the airport experience.
Advanced processing technology: NEXTT will investigate how advance processing technology, such as tracking and identification technology, automation and robotics can improve safety, security, the customer experience and operational efficiency.
Interactive decision-making: NEXTT will promote the better use of data, predictive modelling and artificial intelligence to facilitate real-time decision-making, a key element in improving the passenger experience and optimizing operational efficiency.
IATA and ACI will work with their respective members, and other associations, service providers, engineering firms and manufacturers. Through the collaborative approach NEXTT aims to align the visions for the future passenger and cargo journey.
A number of key airports including Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS), Bangalore International Airport (BLR), Dubai International (DXB), Heathrow Airport (LHR) and Shenzhen Airport (Group) Co., Ltd. (SZX) are already actively involved in a number of projects which explore NEXTT concepts.
