Five years after the Federal Government bought and commissioned 28 aerobridges in China, it has failed to deliver them into the country, BusinessDay findings show.
Our calculations indicate that these aerobridges may have cost the government about N4.8 billion. This is given that India, which procured and installed aerobridges in 2017, paid about $565,095 for each aerobridge. For Nigeria, this would amount to about N173 million at an exchange rate of N306 to a dollar, meaning that it would have cost the government N4.8 billion to procure the 28 aerobridges.
BusinessDay learnt from a source close to the Federal Government that in 2014, during the remodelling of the airports, about 28 aerobridges were bought and commissioned and some government officials went to see them in China.
The source, who pleaded anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said out of the 28 aerobridges, 14 were to be installed in Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) while the remaining 14 were to go to other airports.
Up till now, however, the bridges haven’t been shipped in.
“The then airport manager was one of those that went to check the bridges in China and those bridges are still there. We have been begging them to bring them in. When we have something like that still hanging, it is very difficult to request for new ones,” the source said. “To us, it is not easy because the airlines are always on our neck. Passengers wait in the aircraft for several minutes for the aircraft to be towed into the aerobridge.”
The source said the bridges at the airports now are old and are not meant for the current aircraft type in operation as they were built when 747s were the biggest aircraft.
The absence of automated bridges has meant that airlines operating in Nigeria consistently spend millions of naira annually just to tow their aircraft into the aerobridge, a point to disembark passengers after landing. In other climes, airlines taxi their aircraft into the aerobridge but in Nigeria, airlines pay ground handling companies over N985 million annually to tow their aircraft into the aerobridge. This process has continued to constitute unnecessary delays to passengers who are forced to remain in the aircraft for 15 to 20 minutes after landing for the aircraft to be towed.
BusinessDay’s checks show that all 30 international airlines operating in Nigeria pay nothing less than N985,500,000 annually into the coffers of the Skyway Aviation Handling Company (SAHCO) and Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc (nahco aviance) to tow their aircraft into the stairways, which is the disembarkment point for passengers.
Figures from the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) on passenger movement indicate that international airlines operate 30 flights on the average from MMIA daily. This implies that in 365 days, the airports will process nothing less than 10,950 flights.
Ground handling companies charge airlines $250 per towing. This implies that airlines pay nothing less than $2.7 million every year to tow their aircraft into the finger, which amounts to N985,500,000 using an exchange rate of N360 to a dollar.
Henrietta Yakubu, general manager, public affairs, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), told BusinessDay that towing aircraft is an extra-precautionary safety measure adopted by FAAN. Experts in aviation, however, say these measures are totally unnecessary in the first place if the right infrastructure is provided.
“The aerobridges at the Lagos airport are very old. For instance, it is not the same bridge you use for a Boeing 777 that is used for a Boeing 737. In other countries, when an aircraft lands, it is told what bridge to go into depending on the aircraft type. So, with the bridges we currently have, it is safer for the aircraft to be towed into them, while some developed airports use automated bridges,” Alexander Nwuba, managing director, Smile Air Ghana and former MD, Associated Airlines and WestAir Benin, told BusinessDay.
“In addition to this, there are some equipment markers in form of lights that give visual aids to the pilot when he lands and taxies into the bridge. The light changes colours as the aircraft taxies into the bridge to indicate its final stop. We need to ask FAAN if those lights are working,” he said.
IFEOMA OKEKE
