Despite 8.5 million Aircraft Acquired For ILS Calibration, Lagos Airport Suffer Low Visibility

***BA Pilots Refuse Landing At MMIA, Divert Flights To Ghana

Despite 8.5 million spent on the acquisition of aircraft for calibration of Instrument Landing System (ILS), foreign airlines are not able to land at Lagos airport due to low visibility.

Following the absence of functional Instrument Landing System (ILS), British Airways had diverted its Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos-bound flights to Accra, Ghana.

In a bid to ensure safety, BA pilots had on Monday refused to land at the Lagos airport where there is no functional ILS.

Foreign airline’s decision to divert flights to Accra was as a result of the low visibility caused by Harmattan which would have not been a challenge if there was a functional ILS in Lagos Airport.

It would be recalled that in November, 2019, the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) installed Category 3 ILS at the Lagos airport so that flights could land at lower visibility, but the equipment was not calibrated.

Without calibration, its efficiency cannot be ascertained.

According to THISDAY,  The Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika early had last year acquired $8.5 million aircraft for calibration but the aircraft has not been put to use.

NAMA had in the past engaged the services of ASECNA, a sub-regional aeronautical agency in charge of the management of the airspace of French-speaking West African countries, but the engagement stopped when the Minister acquired the calibration aircraft.

While the Category 3 ILS has been installed, it is not put in use and the existing Category 2 ILS had been removed and replaced.

However, foreign airlines are still landing at the Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano; the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja; and the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa, where the ILS is working.

“The problem we are facing is caused not by weather but by the bad decisions made by government officials. There is Category 3 ILS in Lagos but it is not functional because it has not been calibrated and because it is not functional, some airlines did not want to risk landing in low visibility in the evening and night. So, they divert their flights to Accra. ASECNA used to do the calibration for NAMA but the Minister acquired $8.5 million aircraft recently for calibration but it is not working. So, some airlines said they cannot take the risk and decide not to land at the Lagos airport,” A Foreign airline official Laments.

As of the time of filing this report NAMA had not made any categorical statement on the matter