Yemisi Izuora
The Association of Foreign airlines Representatives in Nigeria (AFRAN) has asked the federal government to commence the expansion of the Cargo apron of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport Lagos.
The association said the move will help decongest and allow the landing of more wide bodied aircrafts.
President of the association Mr Kingsley Nwokoma who made the appeal expressed disappointment at the way the Cargo apron was abandoned by a contractor that was awarded the contract for its expansion without prosecution.
According to him, We should have government that will make people work, you can’t just collect money and disappear especially for a facility that will benefit the whole country. It’s something that government must look into”
Nwokoma explained that it was becoming worrisome and difficult for wide bodied planes to land at the airport as a result of the inability of the government to construct a bigger apron for the airport.
He urged the government to address the situation to avoid embarrassment from the international community adding that all eyes were focused on Nigeria.
“We have an airline that brings in goods and is made to park at international. The apron is so small and we have had issues and incidents involving planes.
The Cargo apron is an eye sore that apron has been there since the airport was built, we have been crying, calling for this expansion because safety is key here”
On the need for sanity at the NAHCO shed, Nwokoma called for the introduction of access control of people into the Cargo area especially with the security challenges that the country was passing through.
The AFRAN president stressed the need for the installation of close circuit televisions within and around the airport to monitor every on going activities in the area.
“If we are going to achieve anything positive, manpower and equipment has to be at its peak. The airport must be illuminated ”
He decried the inability of the government to bring down the price of aviation fuel in spite of the fallen oil prices in the world market.
According to Nwokoma prices have fallen from one dollar to 50 or 55 cents and in Nigeria it has remained the same in the aviation sector. “This fallen oil prices will bring down tickets fares and more people will fly”
“It’s very unfortunate. We are dealing with world standard and it should be world standard, Jet A1 remains high in Nigeria as oil prices have fallen drastically and all over the world prices have been reduced. It must be applicable here”