Airlines groan over closure of Lagos airport runway

Shola Adekola, Lagos - 07.05.2008

Domestic airlines across the country have continued to groan as they lose several billions of naira daily following the two years closure of the local Runway 18Left at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos.

It was learnt that each airline loses N150,000 per flight to the closure, depending on aircraft type as local airlines operating have been made to taxi from the local wing of the airport to the international wing before they take off.

Each local airline, in the process of going through the international airport before take off, spends close to 15 minutes, a situation which leads to fuel and time wastage.

Some of the airlines which have petitioned the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) lamented how they had been made to waste time and fortunes while taxing through the international airport.

Following the closure, an airline that operates up to 10 flights daily loses about N15 million daily to the closure as it loses N150,000 per flight.

Besides the daily loss, the continuous closure has led to heavy traffic at the number one gateway as aircraft are made to either queue up, awaiting clearance and separation from the air traffic control unit.

Nigerian Tribune learnt that at times, inbound planes are made to hover in the airspace for some time as they await clearance from the control tower, a situation which exposes lives of passengers on board to danger apart from the fuel the aircraft burns.

The issue of the runway closure has become a conduit pipe, through which the airlines, especially the local ones, lose heavy money.