The federal government says efforts are in place to improve
visibility at Murtala Muhammaed International Airport in Lagos.
Hadi Sirika, minister of aviation, said this while
responding to the inability of some flights to land or take off from the
country’s busiest airport due to poor visibility.
He said diverting flights to Ghana was purely the decision
of the airlines as such could have been diverted to Abuja.
In a statement issued on Thursday, Sirika said the federal
government had procured equipment that allows for the lowest visibility landing
but the malfunctioning of some components delayed the installation.
He said Nigerian authorities are committed to the safety of
passengers and would keep improving on facilities at the airports.
“The Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika has noted,
with great concern, the experiences of air travellers to and from the Murtala
Muhammed International Airport Lagos regarding flight diversions and, in many
cases, outright cancellations, which have been occasioned by highly inclement
weather conditions,” the statement read.
“While these developments are greatly regretted, we wish to
let the public know that the authorities at the Murtala Muhammed International
Airport in Lagos were in the process of replacing the old Category 2 Instrument
Landing Systems with the newly procured Category 3 system that allows for the
lowest visibility landing.
“Unfortunately, there was a malfunctioning of certain
components, which, coupled with the unforeseen weather conditions, made landing
at the airport difficult. The procurement of the Category 3 Instrument landing
System is in pursuance of the desire of the Federal Government to ensure the
safety of air passengers by ensuring that airplanes can land with almost zero
visibility.
“We wish to assure the public and the airlines, that efforts
are on to return the system to full working condition and that normalcy of
operations will be re-established in due course.”
On the diversion of incoming international flights to
neighbouring countries, he said: “We wish to reiterate that the decisions are
purely those of the airlines which we have no control over. However, it should
be noted that those flights could, and should have been rerouted to the Nnamdi
Azikiwe International Airport Abuja which is shorter or equidistant from Lagos
to the foreign airports to which some of the flights have been diverted.
“In recognition of Abuja as an alternate airport, Qatar
airlines has applied to divert its flights to the Nnamdi Azikiwe International
airport, to which the Minister granted immediate approval. It is left to be
seen why some others decided to divert to another country.”
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