Abuja Airport runway 100% completed, says FAAN boss

The Managing Director, Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mr Saleh Dunoma, says that all the critical items of work on Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airoprt, Abuja, runway are 100 per cent completed.
Dunoma told newsmen in Abuja on Sunday that the remaining items to be completed were the marking, airfield lighting and surface cleaning.
He added that the marking of the runway had reached 70 per cent, the airfield lighting system had attained 80 per cent while the surface cleaning had commenced.
Dunoma also stated that the runway would be ready by April 17 for certification by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) before reopening on April 19.
According to him, there is additional work which has to do with the Airport Excellence in Safety (APEX) related items which FAAN is using the closure opportunity to achieve.
“Asphalt work is 100 per cent, markings have reached almost 70 per cent, the airfield lighting system has reached 80 per cent.
“All the critical items of work are 100 per cent except may be two items, which of course is the markings and the cleaning.
“Other critical item which is not works but the inspection by NCAA who will certify that the repairs that had been carried out is satisfactory and give us go ahead to bring in traffic.
“We are now leveling all the airfield lightings’ locations, all the installations and flash with the ground surface.
“In case of any skidding, there will not be concrete projection above the ground surface,” he said.
On the calibration of Navigational Aids, Dunoma said the work was only carried out on the runway, adding that NAVAIDS were not tampered with.
He explained that the airfield lightings that were tampered with were being restored; adding that the runway would be checked to ensure that there was 100 per cent illumination.
According to him, calibration is periodical and when the time for the calibration comes, the appropriate authority will calibrate the Instrument Landing System (ILS).
On the terminal building, FAAN boss said the authority would improve on all the services there by carrying out total repair of all the items that were bad.
“Most of the items there have been completed and we are just trying to clean up,’’ he said.
Dunoma assured that the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja runway would be ready by April 17, two days before the reopening date of the runway for air traffic.
The Federal Government had on March 8 shut Abuja Airport for its runway repairs and subsequently diverted its flights to Kaduna International Airport.
According to the official records, Kaduna Airport has recorded over 3,533 flights and 170,150 passengers since the beginning of the operation.
Traffic is expected to return to Abuja from April 19 as many airlines are already putting plans in place to return their operation to the airport.
Also, the Director-General of Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Capt. Muhtar Usman, on Sunday said the Nnamdi Azikiwe International  Airport, Abuja runway project was 99 per cent completed.
Usman made this known in a statement by the media consultant to the Minister of State for Aviation, Mr Ariyo Akinfenwa, after carrying out an audit on the runway.
He said: “Today, NCAA along with the airport owner, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), conducted an inspection.
“We were able to see that the job has been done well up to at least 99 per cent completion. We believe that the remaining work will be completed on or before the official opening date.”
Usman said what was found during the audit were some items that were not critical to safety and would not stop the reopening of the airport scheduled for April 19.
” The findings have been communicated to the owner of the airport, FAAN. We are expecting a corrective action plan that will come with timelines that will address those issues.
” But as I mentioned earlier, those items that we found are not safety critical and then cannot affect the opening.
“The job has been well-done. The technology employed is the latest and we believe Nigerians will be happy,” he said.