Contractors yet to commence work 8 weeks after Lagos runway shut down

Contractors are yet to move to site, eight weeks after the management of Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) had shut down the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos runway for repairs, BusinessDay’s findings show.

Barely four months after FAAN reopened the 18L (domes­tic) runway of the Mur­tala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos, for exten­sive repairs, the authority in March 2023 also shut down the 18R (international) runway for the same purpose.

FAAN in its verified tweeter handle had said that the runway would be shut for eight weeks to allow its maintenance.

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However eight weeks after, BusinessDay’s findings show that contractors were yet to move to site, which shows the closure of the runway may continue for weeks.

An airline captain who craved anonymity told BusinessDay “International” runway as it is fondly referred to in Lagos, runway 18R, that has been shutdown (unavailable) for eight weeks for repairs, was yet to be repaired and contractors have not been deployed to commence work.

“We discovered that the contractors are yet to even move to site, yet it is due to be returned to service on the 30th of May. The more you see, the less you understand, where has that money gone?” the captain stated.

While flight operations have not been affected by the closure because airlines have had to use the domestic runway, all international and local flights have had to adjust to using just one runway for flight operations.