Foreign airlines have abandoned the newly commissioned $100million international terminal at the Muritala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos to continue to operate at the terminal 1 of the international airport over space constraint for wide body aircraft, ANN investigation has shown.
Recall that President Muhammadu Buhari had in March, 2022 commissioned the President Muhammadu Buhari, saying the newly commissioned international terminal, will fast track over 14million passengers yearly and create 3000 direct and indirect jobs.
The terminal, it was gathered had 66 check-in counters, five baggage collection carousels, 16 Immigration Desks at Arrival, 28 Desks at departure, 8 Security Screening Points, 6 passenger boarding bridges with remote boarding and arrival.
Other facilities include 2 food courts, 4 premium lounges, 22 guest rooms, 16 airline ticketing offices, visa on arrival and port health facility, praying areas, 3,000sqm duty free spaces and over 5,000sqm let-table utility spaces.
However, except for Air Peace airline and few others that have started operating its international flight from the terminal, several foreign carriers, including Qatar Airways, Ethiopian Airlines, British Airways among others, have not relocated their international operations to the new terminal.
Air Peace spokesperson, Stanley Olisa, had notified the flying public that from April 19, 2022, its international and regional flight departures will now be at the Terminal 2 of the Lagos Airport.
The statement read: “We are delighted to be the first airline to operate a flight at the newly commissioned MMIA Terminal 2 and going forward, all our regional and international departures will be from this new terminal. We commend the federal government for the feat, and Air Peace will continue to blaze the trail”.
Olisa added that passengers flying to Accra, Banjul, Freetown, Douala, Dakar, Johannesburg and Dubai are henceforth expected to proceed to the new terminal for ticketing, check-in and boarding.
It was further gathered that the the airlines continue to operate at the airport’s old terminal because it doesn’t have the apron space to accommodate widebody aircraft.
Due to this space constraint, majority of airlines are shunning the new terminal in favor of the older Terminal 1.
Stakeholders, however, argued that due to lack of apron space wide enough to accommodate certain widebody aircraft like the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, 777, 747 and Airbus A380, foreign airlines abandoned the terminal.
Corroborating this, the acting general manager, Corporate Affairs, FAAN, Faithful Hope-Ivbaze, said there are plans to expand the apron to accommodate more aircraft.
She said, “All I can say for now is that there are plans for expansion which you are already aware of to make room for more space.”
Though, building such as the former headquarters of the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB), have been demolished, stakeholders said for the new terminal to be adequately utilised, there should be demolition of more buildings surrounding the international terminal to create more space.
Other private entities and government agencies that may be affected are Dominion, Evergreen Apple Nigeria, Caverton, ExecuJet hangars, office complex of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and towing companies close to the AIB-N regional headquarters.
Speaking on the issue, the general secretary, Aviation Round Table Initiative (ARTI), Capt. John Ojikutu (rtd), said the international terminal can’t take more than four wide ody aircraft at a time.
He, however, posited that there may be conflict later between the operators of Air Peace airline and the new national carrier, Nigeria Air, should they operate from the new MMIA Terminal.
He said, “Why do you want them in the terminal that has only 6 boarding gates as against a terminal where they are presently operating with 12 boarding gates? “
“Meanwhile, an airline is already giving to be operating regional, continental and intercontinental flights from the new terminal, what boarding gates are left for the ones you are begging and are refusing your offer?
“Moreover, where is the space on the new terminal apron to take more than 4 aircraft? Where would the planned new national carrier going to operate from if you do not restrict to the Abuja second terminal? There might be conflict later between the operators of Air Peace and the new national carrier if both would have to be operating from the new MMIA Terminal.
Also speaking, an aviation expert, Olumide Ohunayo, said because the development of the terminal didn’t follow the airport master-plans, it can’t operate optimally.
According to him, the lack of master-plan was responsible for the error recorded, saying the solution is demolition of more buildings around the terminal to create more space.
He stated that loans have been collected and the only way to recoup the loans is for the terminal to be optimally utilised, saying the government must make the airside convenient for operators.
He said, “It’s not a bad case entirely, it just going to cost more money because what we have done is that the airport masterplans was not followed due to executive recklessness. Executive recklessness, led to the citing of airport terminal at that location and now they will have to bring down building meaning another investment just because they breached the airport master plan and the terminal not properly situated.”
“For the terminal, loans have been collected and they have to be paid. Also, the loans have to be used and airlines must be encouraged to use the terminals because we have to recoup the loans collected but it’s left for the government to work on all possibilities and all appropriate measure that will ensure that the airside is comfortable for bigger aircraft.”
Ohunayo, a member of the ARTI, however, advised the federal government to do anything they can to ensure that the terminal is available to all airlines.
“Whatever it will cost the government, they have to bear the cost because this was what was avoidable but we did not do it from the onset. Airport is not about aesthetic of terminal alone but general comfort and smooth operation of operators who pays for the airports and passengers who uses the airports,” he concluded.
