Louis Ibah
A team of safety and security auditors from the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), have commenced work geared at preparing four of Nigeria’s international airports in Enugu, Port Harcourt, Kaduna and Kano ready for international certifications, says Managing Director/CEO of FAAN, Mr. Saleh Dunoma.
Dunoma, who addressed aviation reporters in Lagos, yesterday, also announced that all ongoing airports’ remodelling work in the country would be completed by June 2018.
“We had to change the completion dates (initially fixed for 2016) because of issues pertaining to dollar exchange rate with contractors because when the projects were awarded, the dollar exchanged for N160 but as at today it goes for over N300 per $1. The approval process for the variations of the contract ended up being so lengthy but Port Harcourt Airport is about 80 per cent completed, while Abuja and Lagos are almost done. By the middle of this year, we should complete these projects,” he added.
Dunoma said the safety and security processes, infrastructure and conditions at the Enugu, Port Harcourt, Kano and Kaduna international airports were being evaluated by the auditors from NCAA and FAAN with the view to getting them aligned with international standards prior to their certification.
He said the certification of the four airports became necessary following the successful certification of the Lagos and Abuja airports by NCAA and International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). None of Nigeria’s airports operated with any international certification until the Lagos and Abuja airports were certified in 2017. Dunoma said the plan was to get all airports in the country certified in the years ahead.
He also said plans have reached advanced stage to procure and install mobile Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras at the airside of all airports in the country.