[Nigeria] Aviation professionals endorse closure of Abuja Airport

Aviation professionals under the aegis of Association of Nigerian Aviation Professionals (ANAP) Monday endorsed the closure of Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NNIA), Abuja for the proposed six weeks repair of its runway.

ANAP said failure to close the airport for immediate repairs could be an invitation for the air disaster.

This is just as the association called for the sack of the Director-General of Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Captain Mukthar Usman for his failure to instruct FAAN to shut the Abuja Airport on account of the dilapidated portions of the runway as a regulator of the industry.

Speaking at a briefing in Lagos, Secretary General of ANAP, Comrade Abdulrasaq Saidu said the closure of Abuja  Airport remains not negotiable because of the safety hazards the continued use of the runway portends for the industry.
He said ANAP is disappointed at the silence of NCAA over the dangerous state of the runway, which should attract the attention of a serious industry regulator.

Saidu faulted three aviation unions namely: National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) and National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE) which wrote a letter to President Buhari to express opposition to the closure of Abuja Airport.

He said the unions were wrong in considering the loss of revenue to aviation agencies to the safety of lives overuse of an airport which runway is completely dilapidated.

Saidu accused the three unions of pursuing a political agenda over the Abuja Airport closure when as aviation workers they should be driven by safety interests.

Saidu said: “ANAP supports the closure of Abuja Airport for its runway. This is not negotiable. We cannot wait for an aircraft crash to fix Abuja Airport runway. This is a safety critical issue.

“This is why ANAP is disappointed over the letter written to the President by NUATE, ATSSSAN and NAAPE that the airport should not be closed.

“This is a wrong position and highly unprofessional. Even, air traffic controllers have been complaining about the bad runway.
“It is for this reason that ANAP is calling for the sack of director general of NCAA. The NCAA director-general has failed to carry out his oversight duties over the poor state of the runway.

“The NCAA has remained silent on the poor state of Abuja Airport runway. So what kind of oversight duties is the NCAA carrying out? The director-general has failed to speak up. What is the duty of the aerodrome inspectorate of the NCAA, if it cannot write FAAN to close the airport until the runway is repaired .”

Also speaking, Administrative Secretary of Nigerian Union of Pensioners ( NUP), FAAN branch, Comrade Emeka Njoku supported the closure of Abuja Airport.

He said the Minister of State, Aviation, Hadi Sirika should invite former managing directors of FAAN to get their input on the best model to adopt in repairing the runway.

He said from their experience in managing the airport runway, they would advise the minister on how to get the runway on track for flight services.

Njoku said: ” The minister should invite former MDs of FAAN, they know how they have been fixing the runway. Maybe they could advise on partial closure or other ways to fix the runway.
“But, there are a few concerns about the use of Kaduna as the alternate airport because of security and other constraints. This may perhaps affect majorly foreign carriers.”

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