We depend on generating sets 24 hours - Port Harcourt Airport Manager

Godknows Ugwuzor Port Harcourt Airport Manager, Godknows Ugwuzor, in this interview with Gboyega Adeoye, speaks on the present state of the airport and the on-going effort to make the gateway more viable through diversification to non-aeronautical ventures to boost revenue. Excerpts:

What are the challenges?
YOU know, the airport does not have a perimeter fence and it is a very serious problem.That is why we have a security patrol team to deter unauthorised persons and ward off cattle. Recognising the fact that the airport is sided by villages and the thick forest which is an attraction to all kind of people, we set up the patrol team for constant security exercises.
We have electricity supply as one of the major problems. Before the airport was closed down, the primary source of power here has been inadequate, infact it was non-existent, that is PHCN (Power Holding Company of Nigeria ). In every airport, PHCN is the primary source of power, but here, we rely solely on generating sets. We run generating set always. They just delivered to us another 1,000kva generating set and it is awaiting installation. We run power here 24 hours non-stop. It is quite exorbitant to run.

What are remedies?
To be precise, the first aircraft landed here on the 21 December, 2007 and the airport itself was commissioned December 24, 2007. What actually happened was that before the closure, the airport was handling both domestic and international flights. But because of the non-completion of some landing aids, particularly the runway lights, the airport is open for day light operations and that is what we are operating now. The runway is standard and they are working seriously on the runway lights. On the terminal, we did design restoration to return into standard better than it was before the closure, because it was in serious need for expansion to accommodate international flight and passengers when we start international flights operations. All the facilities were installed better than they were before the closure. The car park was also expanded. Though, some people were anticipating to come here to see a new building, but it would have taken a longer time than the period we used to ensure that flights resume here. We did what we did at the time the airport was opened in order to save the situation, to ensure take-offs and landings in Port Harcourt safely. Now, the flight operation here is safe; the runway is one of the best runways in the country. The runway light is being worked on. The facilities we have in place, like the fire trucks, are category seven and they are all working very well even though we have been promised new ones.

The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) had already ordered for new trucks. As soon as those ones arrive, I am sure that we are going to have a beef up in trucks. But what we have here can take us to accommodate the kind of flights here.Now, the airport is handling four airlines; four schedule airlines operating combined flights more than 25 flights daily. So, it is quite an increase traffic and we know more airlines are showing interest to operate here. We are working towards seeing how we can accommodate more. There is increased passenger traffic at the airport recognising the fact that most of them who were going from here to other places have made a u-turn. The traffic in Owerri has gone down because of the opening of the Port Harcourt airport. Day by day, we are trying to see how we can accommodate the comfortability, safety and be able to provide the required security. We are now patrolling with the military to ensure safety.

What are security measures being put in place?
Screening machines are working, at the same time, we have put in place various security check devices. In this airport, before you can come into contact with any arriving passenger, you must have stayed where you can see them. The car hire operators are back and we are working with them to streamline their activities. The new on-duty-card is here and FAAN sent in some vehicles for security patrol and the state government donated two new patrol vehicles to the airport.

What are the prospects?
We have our prospects even though we have our limitations and problems. We are looking to see how these problems can be solved because we have made so many requests to see how we can solve them through some agencies. We are looking forward that in the nearest future, we will see an airport that is full-fledged with runway lightings, an expansion of the terminal building at both ends and that the abandoned airline building left for the past 10-12 years will be completed to enable us accommodate more airlines. I will say that we are hopeful for the future that things will change for better.

What are the mapped out strategies?
What we have to do is to make sure that every kobo that is coming from this airport is picked up for domestic operation. For an airport that was handling international operations now reduced to domestic, the only thing we are looking at is that the number of passenger activities within that domestic operation and also the frequencies of flight operations, rent and other revenue rise. Since that is all we have available, we put all the machines in motion including task forces to make sure that all the money coming is picked up. We are looking forward that as soon as the facilities on ground are upgraded, international flights will be back. The airlines are already on their toes waiting to start operations here immediately and it will change our fortunes.

Diversification?
Yes, we have business proposals which have been submitted. Most of the revenue areas we looked at are non-aeronautical and we are pursuing it with gusto. It is a thing that will really change the future of aviation in the country. Our blue-print for business development is already there.

Motivation?
It is actually challenging, we can not expect it to be a rosy place all the time. So, the challenge is what we have looked upon and how we can fashion our avenues to meet these challenges. So we are not unmindful of the enormity of the responsibility and we are already on it. We are hopeful and the staff are very cooperative and challenges in the airport and the organisation as a whole, we work here as a team with all my staff. That is one of the major things that have been very helpful to us. The challenges of this airport has taken much of my time, if the airport survives and don’t survive with us, we have nothing and if we survive and the airport doesn’t survive there is problem. So what we are going to think about is how do the airport survive and we survive