One of the most essential but neglected sectors in Nigeria is the aviation sector. It is the reason why the sector has given Nigerians the least joy and caused many the deepest pains and losses.
Apart from the fact that the sector is the gateway to the nation, it also presents to foreigners a firsthand, ‘first impression’ information about Nigeria’s outlook.
Over the years, Nigeria’s airport terminals, both domestic and international have become eyesores as they appear antiquated and lacking in the most basic modern facilities.
For instance, the Murtala Muhammed International Airports was built in 1979 while some others like the Kano airport was built before then. But the facilities that were installed on these airports have remained with them until recently, a situation that has left the airports looking like unkempt museums.
Before now, the harrowing experiences of passengers at the Lagos airport, which is even supposed to be the hub of air transport in West Africa, cannot be compared to anything.
For a long time, the routine was that once an aviation minister took office, he or she would carry out the perfunctory ‘on-the-spot’ assessment of all airports across the country, lament the state of facilities and leave with the usual officialese of “government will address the decay as soon as possible” only for things to remain unchanged till his or her departure from office.
Under the tenure of Stella Oduah, current aviation minister, however, things for once, have not been the same after her visit as repairs have begun to take place at the airport. For example, the delay at the conveyor belt, which is one of the major problems passengers had lamented about, has reduced considerably as there are now six additional conveyor belts; three in each of the expanded E and D wings.
The E and D ends of the airport have been expanded and there is a new check-in system at both ends with 30 Immigration desks, 14 full-body scanners and other accompanying equipment. In addition to the six additional carousels (conveyor belts), there are new arrival areas with Immigration desks and the upper part of the airport facility has also been developed, including new lounges and new departures.
The roof of the terminal has been opened for construction works and this explains why there are bins and vats to contain the water dripping from the roof though the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has never thought it wise to come out and explain to the passengers the reasons for the dripping water, which is why many see the situation as part of the decay ravaging the airport.
Transit lounges and airlines lounges are being built at the rooftop of the building and new departures areas are being created at the top D and E fingers and would be connected with ramps to the avio bridges to the aircraft. This will enhance safety as the old system where the departing and arriving passengers meet on the same floor with flimsy gaps will no more be the case.
In terms of security, the acceptable standard is that there should not be any communication between the departing passengers and arriving passengers because passengers who are moving to board their flights have gone through security screening.
Therefore, to avoid such possibility, government decided to build new departures at the top of the fingers.
On top of the D and E fingers are the departures and each of the new structures has width of 14. 64 meters; length of 210 meters and an area of 3, 074 meters.
By moving the lounges to the rooftop of the terminal, spaces have been created for duty-free shops, which is lacking for the nation’s premier airport.
Many of the airports in Nigeria are now wearing a new look as Stella Oduah, has promised not to leave any stone unturned until they have been reshaped.
Currently, the newly remodelled departure/screening points containing 30 new Immigration counters at the MMIA have been opened to traffic as travellers begin to heave sighs of relief.
The extended Departure Hall features five state-of-the-art screening machines and two Body Scanners at each of the wings.
A distinguishing feature of the new screening machines is the ability to detect explosive materials and potential threat items real time with the lowest rate of false alarm.
With the introduction of 30 new Immigration counters as against the previous nine, passenger facilitation is expected to be taken to another level as there will be quick responses from the counters.
The extended Departure consists of 14 check-in counters, seven hand-luggage X-ray machines and eight walk-through Body Scanners at the E finger.
Yakubu Dati, spokesman for Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), explained that the facility is equipped with 11 toilet facilities for both male and female passengers, as well as disabled persons.
“The improvements in physical extension of the passenger handling area is by one and a-half times or 150 percent more than its previous size. Three new hi-tech conveyor systems have also been installed in this new section since early this year. This has been easing the experience of passengers who now enjoy faster processing of their luggage and personal effects.
“The new conveyor systems can process the luggage of 1,000 passengers per hour, passenger processing is now faster and the congestion has been eradicated in line with the Aviation Road map initiated by Minister of Aviation,” he added.
The ongoing remodelling, according to Dati, has led to an expansion of about 25 percent as against the former operational area, in anticipation of passenger growth.
Airports terminals like Kano, Enugu, Owerri, Yola, Lagos General Aviation Terminal, Abuja General Aviation Terminal, Port-Harcourt International wing, Sokoto and Kaduna Hajj are already completed.
Oduah, while inspecting the facilities, assured that the airport would be commissioned before the end of first quarter of 2014.
“We want to be able to start the usage of all these facilities by first quarter of next year (2014). What is very key is that passenger travelling experience will be very different.
“It will be the way it should be; it means you have the comfort, you have the safety and you have the security and most importantly as you’ve seen, we’ve increased the capacity which means you have ample space to really do what you are supposed to do.
With increased capacity at the new Abuja GAT, it can take up to 1,000 passengers at a time as it has been installed with new cooling system and modern passenger facilitating equipment and conveniences.
By: Sade Williams
