Airport Security : Federal Government Deploys Hi- Tech Explosive Detection Screening Equipment at Airports

As part of measures to boost safety and security at airports nationwide , the Federal Government has procured and deployed hi- tech three in one liquid, metal and explosive detection screening equipment at all Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), controlled airports.

The equipment have been deployed at 22 airports controlled by FAAN.
According to the spokesman of aviation parastatals, Mr Yakubu Dati, the equipment were procured between July 2001 and October 2013.

He said the deployment of the hi- tech security equipment became imperative as parts of efforts by government to raise the bar in airport safety and security .
According to him, the equipment  have been fully installed at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos and the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja.

He said government has also procured over 46 fire tenders for FAAN to ensure adequate fire cover for the 22 airports in line with the requirement of the  International Civil Aviation Organisation ( ICAO).

Dati said in July 2011, the authority had only 20 fire tenders which had to be upgraded to meet the prescribed standards and requirements of ICAO for Nigerian airports .

He said :" Also, between July 2011 and October 2013, FAAN procured and deployed hi-tech, 3-in-1 (liquids, metals and explosive detection) screening equipment at all FAAN controlled airports."

Furthermore, Dati said that  FAAN fully complied with ICAO standards for firefighting and rescue operations. He said :" Before July 2011, there were only 20 fire tenders available, but now, FAAN has 46 fire tenders.
These equipment have been fully installed at the Murtala Muhammed Airport Lagos and the NnamdiAzikwe Airport, Abuja."
Commenting on airport remodelling, Dati said air conditioning system at airports are being fixed even as stand-by power systems is being improved on in addition to  the procurement and installation of  new baggage belt systems, lifts and escalators." This has been done in order to bring Nigeria at par with international standards and best practices, as well as create a new ambiance of all the airport terminals.", he said .

Dati said additional 450 brand new kits , which includes personal protective clothing have been provided for all firemen and women as against the old and worn out kits obtainable in the past." This has been done to enable firemen efficiently carry-out their duties in securing and safe-guarding the airport terminals, staff and  passengers .

FAAN complies with ICAO standards for fire fighting and rescue operations.
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) between the years 2011 and October 2013 reached a new hight,  as the organization is committed to making a conscious effort in keeping both travelling passengers and the Nigerian public feeling safe and secure at the airports.


In line with President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan’s avowed commitment to transformation in the aviation sector, under the leadership of the Minister, Princess Stella Adaeze Oduah, 22 dilapidated terminals as obtainable in the past were marked for remodeling.

So far, seven  terminals have been completely remodelled and work is in top gear in the remaining 15 terminals."

AVIATION 2013: YEAR OF INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT

The year 2013 is particularly significant, considering that it is the year most of the physical infrastructure that provide a concrete evidence of the growing success of the transformation agenda of the president Goodluck Jonathan’s administration in the aviation sector were put in place.

The agenda has been tall and tough. Re-modelling of 22 airports – almost at once! Yes, because it seems the government is in a hurry to reverse the inertia, the waffling and the lack of focus of the past.


Commissioning of remodelled terminals

So far, five of these remodelled airports have been commissioned – Domestic Terminal (MMA), Benin Airport, Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, Mallam Aminu Kanto International Airport, Kano, and the new General AviationTerminal at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

The remaining terminals are at various stages of completion.


Turkey Airlines begins flight to Kano

On December 13, 2013, at exactly 3.00am local time, the inaugural flight of Turkish Airlines from Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano, departed to Istanbul en-route Ndijamena with 105 passengers on board, debunking earlier insinuations that the federal government was frustrating efforts to bring in more foreign airlines to Mallam Aminu Kano Airport. Such insinuations may have explained the excitement and delight of the Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah at the start of flight operations by Turkish Airlines in Kano.

Represented at the inaugural flight ceremony by the Commissioner of the AIB, Capt. Usman Muktar, she described the commencement of Turkish Airlines’ flight at the Mallam Aminu Kano Airport as another milestone in President Goodluck Jonathan’s Transformation Agenda in the aviation industry.

Earlier at the ceremony, Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso had received the Vice President of Turkish Airlines who was on board the inaugural flight when it arrived from Istanbul.

On May 18, 2013, President Jonathan commissioned the remodelled terminal of the Akanu Ibiam International Airport and also laid the foundation stone of a new international terminal there, one of such five terminals to be built in Lagos, Kano, Abuja and Port Harcourt, under a Memorandum of Understanding between the Nigerian and Chinese governments.


Ethiopian Airline starts flight operation to South East
Again, on August 24, 2013, a historic first international flight, an Ethiopian Airline flight, took off from that airport for Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the first direct flight from the South East of Nigeria to the rest of the world since the end of the Nigerian Civil War, over 40 years ago.

High ranking government officials including the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Pius Anyim, Deputy Senate President, Ike Ikweremadu, governors of Abia, Theodore Orji, Enugu Sullivan Chime, Anambra Peter Obi, Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah, Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Minister of Power, Professor Chinedu Nebo, - all witnessed the historic occasion.

October 29, 2013 was another historic day when the Nigerian government signed the Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) with the State of Israel, in Tel Aviv. The agreement would, for the first time in decades, open the route for direct flights between Nigeria and Israel.


Direct flight to Oman

Also, the aviation ministry had earlier approved direct flights to Oman, the Jordanian capital when it granted licence to the Royal Jordanian Airlines to operate that route during the year. The aviation ministry also vigorously tackled the loss of government revenue in the sector. All revenue points in the agencies have now been automated, leading to increased revenue profiles.


End of poor concession agreements

The drain pipe concessions, especially in FAAN, were legally terminated and the Authority re-engineered through structural changes that have encouraged professionalism and quality service delivery at all our airports.


New cargo directorate

A new directorate of cargo development has been created in FAAN to fully exploit the rich potential Nigeria has in air cargo transport business, one area where Nigeria has been missing for several years. The ministry has begun to construct wholly new air cargo facilities at designated airports around the country.

These include Enugu, Port Harcourt, Kano and Lagos Airports. The establishment of an advertisement department for the first time in the history of FAAN is meant to ensure that the prime outdoor advert locations within the airport corridors are properly managed so that the Authority can get the appropriate revenue from advertisements at the country’s airports which are prime advert areas the world over.


Five new terminals underway

During President Goodluck Jonathan’s state visit to the Republic of China in July, 2013, he signed several bilateral trade and business agreements with the Chinese Government worth about $5billion dollars, a major highlight of which was the agreement for the construction of five new international airport terminals at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, Kano, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Enugu by the Chinese state-owned construction corporation, CECC. The new terminals in Lagos and Abuja are expected to be completed next year, 2014.


ICAO ranks Nigeria high on safety

During the year, the International Civil Aviation Organisation(ICAO) also listed Nigeria as one of the 14 countries in Africa that have achieved high and effective level of air safety implementation which is above the global average of 61 per cent. The Ministry of Aviation has also been tackling seriously the issue of infrastructure deficit at the country’s airports.

In September, 2013, FAAN installed 7 new X-ray scanners at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, which has also been transformed through a massive structural expansion and re-modelling programme. To be sure, the infrastructure deficit at the country’s airports remains daunting. This is mainly due to the fact that re-investment in these facilities – upgrade and maintenance – over the past four decades has been largely inadequate.


Fire fighting equipment at airports

During the year, the federal government provided fire fighting equipment at major airports to boost the quick response time of the agencies to emergency situations, in addition to the supply of ambulances, security patrol vans and modern security screening equipment. Nonetheless, the issue of perimeter fencing at all airports which is necessary to boost security at the airports, remains a major challenge due to the sheer size of the various airports around the country.


The Benin airport stowaway incident

That problem was highlighted by the unfortunate stowaway incident at the Benin Airport few months ago. FAAN has however, initiated new security measures to counter such incidents until government is able to fence all airports across the country.


Power cut at airports

Another major challenge is that of providing constant, uninterrupted power supply to all airports, in the face of unreliable power supply from the national grid. FAAN has had to rely mostly on generators for power supply at all airports, at huge financial cost to the Authority.

The seriousness of the problem was highlighted by a few ugly incidents of power cut while airports were still in operation. This challenge is being addressed vigorously through power improvement projects at all the airports, the completion of which will ensure uninterrupted power supply at these airports.

The minister is to begin the implementation of a plan to create aerotropolis (airport cities) project around major airports in the country such as the MMIA, Lagos, and other airports in Port Harcourt, Enugu and Kano.

By: Nkem Osuagwu on December 31, 2013 - 2:42am

http://leadership.com.ng/news/311213/aviation-2013-year-infrastructural-development

Chartered Aircraft Not Denied Landing Right at Gombe Airport

The attention of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria has been drawn to a mischievous and obviously misleading story in some sections of the media alleging that a chartered aircraft conveying some officials of the All Progressive Congress (APC) to Gombe was denied landing right at the Gombe Airport on Thursday, December 2, 2014 by officials of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria.

The fact is that Gombe Airport is not a 24hour airport which means that the airport's runway is not open for flight operations, both scheduled and unscheduled, for 24 hours and a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) to that effect is well known to concerned stakeholders in the industry.

With the permission of the control tower, maintenance and security surveillance operations take place on the runway at periods when the runway is not active. This is a standard practice in the industry. One of such operations was taking place on the airport's runway in the morning of Thursday, December 2, 2014 and unfortunately the fire truck used for that operation, belonging to the Gombe State Government, broke down on the runway.

While efforts were being made by our engineering staff to remove the truck from the runway, the control tower at the Gombe Airport was notified of the incident and a new, specific NOTAM was issued by the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), to alert airmen of that incident for the purpose of asking them to stay away from the airport for a specified period of that day, in the overall interest of safety. The fire truck was removed from the runway in less than an hour after the breakdown of the fire truck.

It is still unclear to us why the pilot of that chartered aircraft did not receive the said NOTAM until he got overhead Gombe Airport. This situation is being investigated by relevant authorities in the industry.

It is however unfortunate and sad that a former Minister of the country, who was not conversant with the technicalities of the incident could conclude and cause to be published in the media that the incident was politically motivated.

We hereby ask the general public to discountenance that story and again wish to restate that aviation industry globally is guided strictly by the principle of safety for human lives and no reasonable agency in the industry anywhere in the world, including FAAN would sacrifice precious human lives and professionalism on the altar of politics.

Yakubu Dati

Aviation Spokesman

FAAN RELOCATES CAR HIRE OPERATORS AT MURTALA MUHAMMED INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria has commenced the relocation of car hire operators at the International Terminal of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja, from the existing car park at the terminal to a temporary site located opposite the access plaza of the airport.

The relocation became necessary in order to make way for the construction of the new international terminal for the airport, at the site of the existing car park.

Under the arrangement, car hire operators will be required to move their cars from the temporary car park, in batches, and at intervals, to a designated point in front of the Arrivals Hall of the terminal.

This arrangement which will be jointly supervised by officials of FAAN and licensed car hire operators is designed to minimize the inconvenience of passengers who wish to patronize car hire services at the airport.

Already the contractor of the international terminal project, CCECC, has mobilised to site, in readiness for the commencement of the project.

Hon. Yakubu Dati

Aviation Spokesman

AVIATION RECORDS SIGNIFICANT MILESTONES IN 2013 - PRESS RELEASE

As aviation stakeholders in Nigeria take stock of activities in the industry in 2013, the consensus of opinion is that the industry recorded significant milestones during the year.

It is also believed that these achievements were products of the Aviation Sector Master Plan (otherwise known as the Aviation Roadmap) created by the Honourable Minister of Aviation , Princess Stella Oduah to facilitate the implementation of President Goodluck Jonathan’s Transformation Agenda in the aviation industry.

Some of these milestones include the Airport Remodelling Project, which has led to the structural transformation of many airport terminals across the country, in keeping with international standards and practices. During the year, work also started on the construction of five new international airport terminals in Lagos, Port-Harcourt, Kano, Abuja and Enugu under a memorandum of understanding between the governments of Nigeria and China.

Another significant milestone is the commencement of international flights by Ethiopian Airlines at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, on August 24, the first international flight from the south-east geopolitical zone of the country since independence. Following the remodelling of the international terminal of Malam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano, Turkish Airlines joined the list of foreign airlines operating at the airport on December 13.

On October 29, Nigeria signed a Bilateral Air services Agreement (BASA) with Israel in Tel Aviv for the commencement of direct flights between the two countries.

The ‘E’ and ‘D’ fingers of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport have been expanded extensively and put to use, with a full complement of such modern facilities as conveyor belts, security screening machines, immigration counters and transit lounges, which are at various stages of completion.

The introduction of aerotropolis (airport cities) and perishable cargo export into the country’s aviation industry are major landmarks that are designed to make the industry make significant contributions to the country’s Gross Domestic product (GDP) even in the short term.

The power and water improvement projects already being implemented at some airports, are projects that are designed not only to enhance safety and security at airports but would make life more comfortable for airport users at terminals.

One major symbolic event that took place in the industry in 2013 is the removal of abandoned aircraft from the country’s airports. These abandoned aircraft not only constituted safety and security hazards but were also an eyesore especially to first time visitors to Nigeria. Several aviation ministers in the past had tried to remove these abandoned aircraft but failed.

A number of policies were also introduced by the Honourable Minister of Aviation, Princess Oduah during this period, some of which were the removal of import duties on aircraft spares, providing an enabling environment for local airline operators to acquire new aircraft, reintroduction of a national carrier for the country and the automation of revenue points of all parastatals under the Ministry of Aviation.

Yakubu Dati

Co-ordinating GM (COMMUNICATIONS), Aviation Parastatals