'Airport facilities are obsolete' - FAAN MD tells Senate committee

dimeji akinloye

November 4, 2015 1:51 AM

He said that most of the equipment at the nation’s airports were acquired well over 30 years ago.

Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).

The Managing Director of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mr Saleh Dunoma, said on Tuesday in Abuja that most of the facilities and equipment at the nation's airports were obsolete.

Dunoma made this known while responding to questions from the Senate Ad hoc Committee on Aviation.

According to him, equipment such as generators, air conditioners, elevators and conveyor belts were no longer functioning effectively.

He said that when FAAN management tried to maintain one of the giant generators at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, the German manufacturer said the parts were no longer available.

He said that the company had expressed surprise that the equipment was still in use in Nigeria, adding that production of the parts for that brand had long been decommissioned.

Dunoma expressed concern that the facilities were being overstretched because new ones had not been acquired in recent years.

He, however, expressed delight that efforts were being made to acquire new ones as part of the ongoing remodeling projects at all the nation's airports.

Dunoma noted that the agency was committed to executing the airport terminus project according to the master plan.

Meanwhile, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Aviation, Hajia Binta Bello, who was on the delegation, said that budgetary provisions alone were not enough to transform the nation's airports.

Bello called for more funding and interventions.

dimeji akinloye