The Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mrs. Olubunmi Kuku, said the immediate plans of the agency was to start with minor modifications and maintenance policies of many of the decaying airport infrastructure. These immediate plans, according to her, involve things like lighting in the airports, and resuscitation of the airport cooling system to start working immediately, noting that the inheritance of decaying infrastructure by President Tinubu’s administration should not be an excuse not to fix many of the broken down infrastructure.
Speaking to New Telegraph at the launch of British Airways refurbished premium lounge in partnership with SDS Lounge Group at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport at the weekend, Kuku said the focus was on a masterplan within the airport environment that can be followed. She disclosed that the agency was embarking on immediate rehabilitation in one wing of the Lagos International Airport terminal and completely overhauling the other wing of the same terminal, stressing that doing so gives a bit of relief where passengers will have easy access while FAAN focuses on the needed overhaul.
She said: “I do want to say very quickly that yes we inherited ageing and decaying infrastructure but that’s still not an excuse. Our immediate plans are to start with minor modifications, we need to start with the maintenance policy first and we need to make sure that very simple things like lighting in our airports, and the cooling system will start to work effectively. “I also want to say that without rushing to the press our focus is on a master plan within the airport environment that we can follow.
For Lagos airport as a whole, Lagos serves as the gateway for the majority of our passengers that are coming into Nigeria, followed by Abuja, we are doing some work around our domestic terminals as we speak, with the international terminal for Lagos as we speak we are looking to quickly do some immediate rehabilitations in one wing of the airport and then a major overhaul in the other wing.” Appraising one year of the current administration and its impact on aviation, the FAAN boss said they were a couple of things that stakeholders in the industry need to provide.
“I spoke about customer experience being a priority. I spoke about the modernisation of the industry; it’s not just about putting infrastructure in place but putting infrastructure that aligns with what is happening globally. We have a flight information display system that will be installed at our airport soon. We have additional e-gates that we are looking to add. “We are also looking to integrate the data with that of the DSS and the watch list that they have as well. I think the second is around the performance of the airlines.
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) along with their consumer protection agencies are supporting that. We are putting more information, more awareness out so that people understand what their rights are. “We are also pleading with our passengers to also manage themselves within the airport environment, there are rules and laws that they need to abide by so that we will understand what we need to do from our end,” she added.
Speaking on the newly refurbished British Airways’ lounge said the British carrier’s partnership with SDS Lounge Group demonstrates the development that British Airways is bringing to Nigeria and more importantly in line with, “our guidelines for customer experience being a priority.