Lagos Airport
By Chinedu Eze
After many years of toying with the idea, the management of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), has announced that it would soon start the removal of all abandoned aircraft from all airports in the country.
General Manager, Corporate Communication of the agency, Yakubu Dati, said that the exercise has become necessary because these aircraft constitute a serious safety hazard on the airside, apart from being an eyesore at these airports. He said some of these aircraft have been abandoned for upwards of 10 years.
“The Authority is constrained to embark on this removal exercise because owners of these abandoned aircraft have deliberately refused to remove them despite all efforts made by the Authority to make them do so, including meetings with the owners and publication of paid notices in various newspapers in the past five years,” Dati said.
He remarked that some of the owners of these abandoned aircraft had taken FAAN to court over this issue and got court injunctions that made it difficult for the Authority to carry out this exercise before now.
“Some of these cases have now been concluded hence the commencement of the removal exercise, at least for the abandoned aircraft which cases have been concluded.”
He said that the agency was therefore calling on all owners of abandoned aircraft to remove them from all the airports within the next one month as the presence of these aircraft “negates the spirit of the current aviation master plan of the Federal Government.”
Caption: Lagos Airport
Airports: FAAN Issues Ultimatum on Removal of Abandoned Aircraft
Chinedu Eze
After many years of toying with the idea, the management of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), has announced that it would soon start the removal of all abandoned aircraft from all airports in the country.
General Manager, Corporate Communication of the agency, Yakubu Dati, said that the exercise has become necessary because these aircraft constitute a serious safety hazard on the airside, apart from being an eyesore at these airports. He said some of these aircraft have been abandoned for upwards of 10 years.
“The Authority is constrained to embark on this removal exercise because owners of these abandoned aircraft have deliberately refused to remove them despite all efforts made by the Authority to make them do so, including meetings with the owners and publication of paid notices in various newspapers in the past five years,” Dati said.
He remarked that some of the owners of these abandoned aircraft had taken FAAN to court over this issue and got court injunctions that made it difficult for the Authority to carry out this exercise before now.
“Some of these cases have now been concluded hence the commencement of the removal exercise, at least for the abandoned aircraft which cases have been concluded.”
He said that the agency was therefore calling on all owners of abandoned aircraft to remove them from all the airports within the next one month as the presence of these aircraft “negates the spirit of the current aviation master plan of the Federal Government.”