After 16 years, Lagos airport runway light ready July

Airline operators especially those operating domestic routes may soon heave a sigh of relief at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos as the federal government is completing installation of AirField Lighting (AFL) for the 2.7-kilometre 18L/ 36R domestic runway by July 2022. The runway was recommissioned in 2006 after refurbishment and rehabilitation but has […]

Airline operators especially those operating domestic routes may soon heave a sigh of relief at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos as the federal government is completing installation of AirField Lighting (AFL) for the 2.7-kilometre 18L/ 36R domestic runway by July 2022.

The runway was recommissioned in 2006 after refurbishment and rehabilitation but has been without runway lights making it difficult for flights to take off or land at night. Domestic airlines had to use the international wing to land and taxi to the domestic side.

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) had earlier this year approved N2.329 billion for the airfield ground lighting for the MMIA, Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja and Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano.

But the plight of operators would soon be over as the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has set a July target for the installation.

Managing Director of FAAN, Capt. Rabiu Yadudu, said the AFL would have been installed by March but the contractor had to replace some imported cables and he has given July to complete the installation.

Briefing newsmen yesterday, Yadudu said: “We are fixing the 18L; the contractor is back, he will fix it by June or July. So, after nine years, we are fixing some of these things that were abandoned and we are also starting new ones, including baggage handling, the central cooling system.”

He also said FAAN will install an automated surveillance camera across the runway to improve surveillance.

“If a rabbit is walking within an 8km radius, which is 16km diameter, they will pinpoint it. The runway is 3.7km or 3.8km and we are buying about four of those cameras to cover the airfield.

“The delivery will happen within the next one or two months and then installation follows. This is fully automated; it will be spanning 360 degrees,” he noted.

The FAAN boss was also worried about some of the aging infrastructure saying they had reached 40 years but these things are being fixed.