The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) says it is targeting the certification of four more airports in July 2018 following the successful certification of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos and the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja last year.
The Managing Director of FAAN, Mr Saleh Dunoma, made the disclosure while speaking on Tuesday at the Gate Way Forum organised by the League of Airports and Aviation Correspondents (LAAC) in Lagos.
Dunoma said FAAN, in collaboration with the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), had began the process of certifying the Kano, Kaduna, Port Harcourt and Enugu International Airports, noting that the programme would be completed by middle of the year.
He said the current drive towards the certification of Nigerian airports was very significant not only as a requirement by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations, but even more importantly as one of the critical safety targets of the Abuja ministerial declaration.
"Very soon, we will certify all the international airports and then we will focus on the domestic airports. All our airports will be certified within a given time frame, " Dunoma added.
According to him, FAAN will continue to emphasise on safety and security followed by passenger facilitation and comfort at the airports.
Dunoma added that additional patrol vehicles had been deployed for surveillance at the Lagos airport while Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras were being installed at the Abuja and Lagos airports to monitor activities at all the restricted areas.
He said," by the time we have all these technology in place, the security will be very tight and no unauthorised person will be able to gain access to these restricted areas. "
The FAAN boss also disclosed that the authority would soon purchase sophisticated scanners that had the capacity to detect any contraband item in a passenger's baggage.
"What we are currently using at the airports now are scanners that can detect when something is not right in a baggage. The security personnel can then focus it on the particular place and if he is not satisfied, he can carry out a manual check.
"But technology is improving and we are thinking of bringing in sophisticated equipments that can detect anything and very soon, we will get these equipments at our airports, Dunoma said.
He also disclosed that work had intensified in the ongoing construction of terminal buildings at the Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt airports, stressing that the projects would be completed soon despite the initial challenges.
On debts being owed FAAN by domestic airlines and concessionaires , Dunoma noted that the agency had worked out payment plans with each of them to clear their backlog of indebtedness.
He said :"As long as we continue to do business, there will be debts. So you cannot say no airline is owing FAAN. We normally give them credits of two weeks as a policy because it is a continuous business.
"We came up with a programme of payment which was agreed by all parties and this is what we have been doing because we don't want to put them out of business.
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