Barely six months after the inauguration of the newly-built $2 billion Anambra international cargo/passenger airport, the airfield has joined the list of 15 other airports with unserviceable runway lights.
BusinessDay’s investigations show that the lights at the Anambra airport are currently unserviceable making it impossible for airlines to land and take off anytime from 6pm.
Out of 22 airports managed by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, (FAAN) only Abuja, Port Harcourt, Benin, Enugu, Kano and Kaduna airports have airfield lightning to enable flights to land and take off on or after 6.30pm while others are referred to as ‘Day Light’ airports.
Lagos, Maiduguri, Calabar, Owerri, Jos, Sokoto, Yola, Minna, Ibadan, Akure, Makurdi, Katsina, Ilorin, Zaria and Osubi airports also do not have airfield lights for night operations.
Airline operators have particularly lamented that the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos located in Nigeria’s commercial capital does not have airfield lighting for night flights, thereby forcing airlines to land at the international terminal, then taxi for 20 to 30 minutes to the domestic terminal to disembark passengers.
Airline operators have continued to lament the loss of billions of naira annually due to the absence of runway lights in the majority of Nigerian airports, restricting them from landing or operating at the airports at night.
Airline operators have said when aircraft develop technical issues or there is a weather issue making airlines operate behind schedule, the flight time to these airports may be delayed, which means outright cancellations since airlines cannot operate into these airports at a certain time.
Passengers onboard Air Peace airline, P47336, were on Saturday, April 30, allegedly returned to Lagos 15 minutes to landing at the Anambra airport located at Umueri in Anambra East local government area.
The air return was said to be due to the darkness that engulfed the airport.
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According to the pilot, the runway was dark at 6pm, thereby making it unsafe for the aircraft to land.
A source at Air Peace who confirmed the development said its aircraft could not land at the Anambra State airport because the runway lights were not serviceable at the time. The aircraft had to make air return to Lagos and rescheduled to a morning flight
Obiora Okonkwo, chairman, United Nigeria Airlines, lamented that one of the major challenges of the daylight airport is that it forces airlines to limit their operations to those airports to 6:30 pm.
Okonkwo said no airline enjoys delaying or cancellation of flights but the inability to land and take-off from these airports on or after 6.30pm is causing airlines huge revenues as they have to cancel flights more frequently.
“About 80 percent of Nigerian airports are daylight airports. This sunset regime puts a lot of pressure on our operations and our schedule because you have to schedule to make sure you start your business and end before sunset. You might not believe that all the local airports here in Lagos are on sunset operations, it has to be looked into.
“There must be proper extension, these airports are there and if you don’t have the facilities to operate up to a certain time like 11pm-12pm and it costs the operators huge sums of money. If airlines operate till 11pm or 12pm, they will be at liberty to spread flight intervals and that will increase on-time performance and customer confidence,” he said.
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