Minister of Aviation
…Apologises to passengers, airlines
The Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika has identified the malfunctioning of certain components of the newly installed Instrument Landing System (ILS) and unforeseen adverse weather conditions at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos as the reasons for the recent diversions, delays and outright cancellations of flights experienced recently at the airport.
Sirika who noted, with great concern, the experiences of air travellers to and from the Murtala Muhammed International airport Lagos regarding the disruption of their flights, however tendered apologies to affected passengers and airlines.
In a statement signed by the
Director, Public Affairs at the Ministry of Aviation, James Odaudu, the minister said:”While these developments are greatly regretted, we wish to let the public know that the authorities at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos were in the process of replacing the old Category 2 Instrument Landing Systems with the newly procured Category 3 system that allows for the lowest visibility landing. Unfortunately, there was a malfunctioning of certain components, which, coupled with the unforeseen weather conditions, made landing at the airport difficult.
“The procurement of the Category 3 Instrument landing System is in pursuance of the desire of the Federal Government to ensure the safety of air passengers by ensuring that airplanes can land with almost zero visibility.
We wish to assure the public and the airlines, that efforts are on to return the system to full working condition and that normalcy of operations will be re-established in due course”.
On the diversion of incoming international flights to neighbouring countries, Sirika explained, “we wish to reiterate that the decisions are purely those of the airlines which we have no control over”.
The statement added, “however, it should be noted that those flights could, and should have been rerouted to the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja which is shorter or equidistant from Lagos to the foreign airports to which some of the flights have been diverted.
It added that in recognition of Abuja as an alternate airport, Qatar airlines has applied to divert its flights to the Nnamdi Azikiwe International airport, to which the Minister granted immediate approval. It is left to be seen why some others decided to divert to another country.
