The Managing
Director, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, Engr. Saleh Dunoma,
weekend declared that the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja runway
will today be ready for inspection by Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA,
and if certified okay by the regulatory authority, will be reopen for flight
operations. This is two clear days before the reopening date of 19th April of
the runway for air traffic.
Dunoma who
made this declaration after inspecting the runway said; “We will be ready by
Monday, April 17 but we are leaving the remaining two days for Nigerian Civil
Aviation Authority, NCAA, because they have to certify that what we have done
is in accordance with their standards.
‘’If they do
that, we will bring in the traffic. But if they do not, we have the opportunity
of making corrections within the two days we have saved”.
On the possibility
of reopening the runway on April 19, the FAAN MD said; “No doubt about that, we
will open it as scheduled. Just as I have said, we worked with NCAA throughout
the period, they have been making corrections. But for formality, we need to
make sure that all the necessary corrections meet the requirement of the civil
aviation authority.
“All the
critical items of work are 100% except may be two items, which are the markings
and the cleaning. Other critical item which is not works but the inspection and
certification will bring in traffic back to Abuja. Asphalt work is 100%,
markings have reached almost 70%, the airfield lighting system has reached 80%.
“There is
additional work which has nothing to do with this repair but we are seizing the
opportunity of the closure of the airport to do it. This has to do with the
APEX (Airport Excellence in Safety) related items. We are now levelling all the
airfield lightings’ locations, all the installations and flash with the ground
surface. In case of any skidding, there will not be concrete projection above
the ground surface,” Dunoma said.
On the
calibration of Navigational Aids, he said; “We have not tampered with the
Navaids. We just worked on the runway. What we tampered with is the airfield
lightings and the airfield lightings are being returned to the same position.
The runway does not need calibration. All we need to check is to make sure
there is 100 per cent illumination. Calibration is done periodically. When the
time comes for calibration, the appropriate authority will calibrate the
Instrument Landing System (ILS).”
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