…Over 60 Abandoned Aircraft Still Litter Nation’s Airports

…Court Orders Restraining FG From Relocating Them — Source

Owners of unused aircraft at the various airports across the country have disobeyed the 90 days ultimatum issued by Mr. Festus Keyamo, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, for the relocation of their equipment.

Investigation by Daily Independent revealed that despite the 90 days ultimatum, which came to an end on November 30, 2023, none of the unused aircraft had been moved from the graveyard where they were abandoned.

Also, there are strong indications that various court injunctions may be responsible for the inability of the Federal Government to forcefully remove the unused aircraft in most parts of the country’s airports as threatened.

Investigations by Daily Independent indicated that there are over 60 unused aircraft in eight airports in the country, with the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos, emerging the airport with the highest number of such unused aircraft.

Others are Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja; Sam Mbakwe Cargo International Airport, Owerri; Yakubu Gowon Airport, Jos; Benin Airport, Benin; Kaduna Airport, Kaduna; Mallam Aminu Kano Airport, Kano and Maiduguri Airport, Maiduguri.

Some of the unused aircraft in the eight airports belong to Space World, Okada, Arik Air (Airbus 340-500), Air Peace, Aero Contractors, Med-View Airlines, Capital Airlines, IRS, EAS, Dasab, Fresh, Nigeria Airways, Chrome Air, Albarka, Kabo Air, Triax Airline, Oriental Airlines, Sosoliso, Afrijet, Freedom Air, Capital Air, Chanchangi Airlines, Gas Air, among others.

Some of the aircraft are owned by Brigadier General Muhammed Buba Marwa (rtd) and Chief Gabriel Osawaru Igbinedion, the Esama of Benin Kingdom and others.

Apart from their airframes, most of the aircraft are empty as they have been cannibalised either by their former owners or tampered with by unknown persons at the graveyards where they are parked.

The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) had in the past made attempts to relocate or even planned to sell off some of the aircraft as scrap, but failed.

Attempts in the past to remove the aircraft led to litigations by the airline owners or their lessors who approached the court to stop the authority from carrying out its threat of scrapping the machines.

A source in FAAN, confided in Daily Independent that court injunctions had in the past prevented the government from carrying out its threats on the abandoned airplanes over the years.

Commenting on the issue, Grp. Capt. John Ojikutu, aviation security expert, expressed the fear that the unused aircraft may constitute security and safety threats to the aviation industry.

He stressed that in the past, the sector had recorded unauthorised cannibalisations of parts from such aircraft from some airlines for the repairs of others of other airlines without the knowledge of the regulatory body.

The security expert advised the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to come out with regulations on disused aircraft and the locations of storages relative to the airports/aircraft operational areas especially the operations/security identification zones.

He opined that to address the challenge, all the domestic airline operators should have designated operational base for their operations where such disused aircraft could be parked only for a limited time instead of their concentration at the Lagos airport.

He added: “FAAN should profile charges for the period of stay that should not exceed six months after which it should have regulatory authority to dispose such aircraft if the aircraft owners cannot relocate the aircraft outside the FAAN airports locations.

“Such carelessness or concessions would seize once the airports are given out as concession. Even the overnight or daily parking will no longer be free. The domestic airlines are better be prepared for the new commercial business plans, which were not in their plans.”

Engr. Chris Amokwu, aviation analyst, called for establishment of a proper graveyard, especially in the far north with favourable weather condition for the aircraft air frame aluminum materials.

He, however, said that it was necessary for the airplanes to be removed for safety and security reasons as well as maintaining the airport aesthetics.

Amokwu declared that for the directive to be complied with, certain protocols are needed to be adopted to ensure that NCAA and FAAN operated within the ambits of the law in order to avoid litigation.

He posited that the continuous littering of the airports with unused aircraft had safety and security implications.

“Inasmuch as FAAN security is doing its utmost best to ensure that our airports are secure from unauthorised access to all airport areas particularly the airside, we cannot rule out potential human factor issues that may create security lapses with regards to unauthorised access to those abandoned aircraft by miscreants, individuals or groups who may have ill-intentions.

“But, more importantly, there are safety, operational, and economic angles to such abandoned aircraft with these abandoned aircraft littered on the airside/aprons, in some airports at the cargo terminals like the Murtala Muhammed Airport,” he added.

The aviation analyst further explained that abandoned aircraft could become revenue-generating assets that could also create jobs by converting them to hotels, diving underwater hotspot and could also be put in museums as tourist attraction.

He also suggested auctioning of the aircraft if all the legal and regulatory issues are resolved.

Keyamo had on August 31, 2023, during his maiden tour of the facilities of the Lagos airport gave a 90-day ultimatum to owners of disused aircraft littering the strategic areas of the airport.

Keyamo had said that the disused aircraft were constituting danger to the airport environment.

He stressed that the three months’ notice would afford FAAN time to expand the Lagos airport apron to accommodate aircraft that were still in service.

He said: “A common sight strikes the eyes of passengers in airports throughout Nigeria’s major airports.

“This old aircraft belonging to bankrupt airlines shares the ground with on-duty planes and wears out in the weather.” (Daily Independent)

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