Nigeria requires N1.5 trillion to fix its airports to enable night operations by domestic airlines, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has said.
This was revealed by the NCAA Director General Captain Musa Nuhu on Tuesday on the side-line of the just-concluded 26th Annual Conference of the League of Airport and Aviation Correspondents in Lagos.
He said the African Development Bank (AfDB) had projected in 2019 that Nigeria would require more than N1.5 trillion to fix the airport infrastructure gap.
Mr Nuhu said poor infrastructure also contributed to the challenges faced in night flight operations in Nigeria’s airports.
He said any airport planning to operate beyond dusk required large financial outlay and compliance with important conditions for safe landing and take-off of aircraft.
Captain Nuhu said, “All manners of security risks including kidnapping, robbery and others are evolving rapidly in many parts of the country.
“The evolving security challenges make night operations dangerous because many airports, by reason of construction and operational requirements, are located mostly on the outskirts of towns.
“The risks are enormous and seriously impacting airports’ operations, airport workers and passengers and crew even in daytime.
“Available data show that the levels of passenger and traffic activities are not financially viable or self-sustaining to operate a majority of the airports beyond sunset,’’ Nuhu said.
The NCAA boss said the high risk of accidents during night operations at airports due to inadequate power supply from primary and secondary sources was daunting.
