There is a huge source of revenue seen in proper utilisation of 28 dead aircraft scattered around the country’s airport and outside the country in the last ten years amid the current economic recession.
While experts in the aviation industry have criticised the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, (FAAN) for allowing owners of the bad aircrafts litter them around the airports, thereby sending wrong signals to passengers, others say the aircraft could still be used for other commercial purposes especially with the current economic recession affecting the sector.
“The stored aircraft that are kept at the country’s airports should not be there for people to see because at every approach and departure of an aircraft, it sends a bad message to passengers, especially those visiting the country for the first time,” Muneer Bankole, Managing Director/CEO, Medview Airline told BusinessDay.
Bankole suggested that the aircraft could be taken to a different location, such as the Museums or schools where students who are interested in studying aviation as a course would have an idea of how an aircraft looks and learn about its various components.
According documents from an authority at the airport, made available to BusinessDay, Aero Contractors has 10 Boeing 737 and three different types of De Havilland Canada DHC, which are stored in Nigeria, France, Jordan and United Kingdom since February 2007 till date.
Arik has one Boeing 737 and one Airbus A340 since December 2008 till date stored in Nigeria. Chachangi airlines have one Boeing 737 stored in Nigeria since March 2009. Dana Air has one McDonnell Douglas MD-83 stored in France since June 2008. Dornier Aviation has one Dornier 328-110 stored since October 2009.
Hak Air has four Boeing 737 stored since December 2011. IRS airlines have one Fokker F100 stored in Istanbul since March 2010. Overland has one ATR 72-202 stored in February 2013. SkyPower Express has one Boeing 737 stored since 2013, while ADC has two Boeing 737 stored in Nigeria since 2002.
However some experts have suggested that metal parts of an abandoned aircraft could be melted and used in making cutleries such as spoons, knives, cups and other kitchen utensils, others say the aircraft could also be refurbished to become restaurants or offices for aviation companies in Nigeria, giving visitors the feeling they get while sitting in an aircraft.
BusinessDay’s checks show that in 2013, Ghana’s defunct national carrier, Ghana Airways, refurbished its stored DC-10, into the new La Tante Restaurant DC 10, which is situated right opposite the Marina Shopping Mall at the Airport City in Accra.
The La Tante DC 10 restaurant is fully air-conditioned with a unique ambiance reflecting the La Tante brand and a seating capacity of 118. The chairs and tables have been re-designed to meet high operational standards with separate wash rooms for male and female customers.
An average Boeing 737 weighs between 65 to 75 metric tonnes, with an aluminium part of over 35 metric tonnes, McDonnell Douglas weighs 63 metric tonnes, with an aluminium part of over 30 metric tonnes.
“It is the responsibility of the owners of these discarded aircraft to dispose of them properly or use their aluminium parts for cutleries or other domestic purposes,” Dung Pam, Chairman, Governing Board of the Nigerian Aviation Safety Initiative (NASI) told BusinessDay.
Pam also suggested that the parts of the aircraft could be dismantled and used as training aids, for major aviation training schools in Nigeria, thereby giving students the opportunity to practice with the aircraft parts.
“It does not look good to keep these aircraft at our airports as it spoils the aesthetics of the airports and gives the country a bad image to people who are passing through the country’s airports.
Sam Adurogboye, General Manager, Public Relations Department of Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), disclosed that there were attempts to get the aircraft out of the airports but airlines that owned the aircraft got court order to restrain the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, (FAAN) from moving them, while others were moved out to the morgue at Ejigbo.
Adurogboye also suggested that the aircraft can still be sold out and the parts can be used for cooking pots, table spoons and other domestic products.
Henrietta Yakubu, FAAN’s acting general manager, corporate affairs told BusinessDay that adverts have been placed in various newspapers across Nigeria requesting that owners the aircraft move them out of the airports within a period of time or sanctions will be applied.
Ifeoma Okeke
