Francis Ogwo
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has said that the proposed reopening of airports for commercial flight operations may be delayed further as most of the planned guidelines set by the agency are yet to be met by most service providers at the airport.
This is just as the regulating agency rated the level of compliance by domestic airline operators in the industry high and above average.
This is a fallout of series of meetings held last week including a webinar to review the status of the airports and compliance with reopening guidelines.
In a data released by the NCAA to newsmen, only Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal 2 (MMA2), which is among the airports selected for reopening by the agency has met with the requirement for reopening with 82% compliance.
The NCAA lamented that the average level of preparedness for the other 6 selected airports listed for reopening stood at 57.83% with General Aviation Terminal (GAT) Lagos scoring 60%; Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, 67%; Omagwa International Airport, Port Harcourt, 35%; Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport Abuja, 28%; Sam Mbakwe Airport, Owerri and Victor Attah Airport 60%.
Earlier, the NCAA had listed five airports, the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport Abuja, Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano, Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, Omagwa International Airport, Port Harcourt and Sam Mbakwe Airport, Owerri to resume domestic flight operations in the country on June 21st.
In this regard, the Director General of NCAA, Captain Musa Nuhu, said, “June 21st date is not feasible to resume domestic operations.”
He stated that it will be reopened when it is safe, secured and organized, citing safety precautions as a major factor in the decision made by the agency.
Earlier in a webinar with stakeholders last week, there was a review of the level of compliance with the reopening guidelines by airline operators and service providers to ascertain its readiness to reopen activities in the aviation industry, which has been under lock and key in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak in March.
NCAA had scored the airlines high for their efforts in attaining 90-95% compliance with requirements but said so many other stakeholders need to meet with the guidelines.
Captain Nuhu said, “The civil aviation authority, despite pressures coming from all quarters, will not approve the start any day until we are sure and we confirm that we are ready to start in a safe, secure, organized and efficient manner. To do otherwise is disastrous for all of us.
“If we open the industry when we are not ready and we are guilty of spreading coronavirus, God forbid we have any incident, I believe the government will come hard on us and it is going to be counterproductive and disastrous for the industry.
“We are not too far, we are close but there is a need for timing to ensure that we are ready, positively, absolutely ready to start work.”
Another meeting held over the weekend with operators reconfirmed the decision by the agency to extend the reopening date as the checklist have not been completed and okayed by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).*
The NCAA however, applauded other agencies like the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET), Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) for reaching 80% compliance with ground handling operators scoring above average.
Recall that the airports where scheduled to reopen on July 21st for commercial operations after over three months of shutdown to contain the spread of the ravaging virus which has the airports and airlines as major spreading channels.
