The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has introduced more security measures at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
Mrs Henrietta Yakubu, the FAAN spokesperson at the airport, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the measure would improve airport security.
She said that a screening machine, now installed at the entrance of the arrival hall, would ensure that passengers entering the hall were properly checked before gaining entrance.
“We now have an alternative door and we installed the screening machine to ensure that people entering are free from any form of security threat and unlawful items for safety because it is not everybody that enters here that are travellers.
“People are also screened with hand-held metal detectors to frisk both international and domestic passengers before check-in into their various scheduled aircraft.
“We also installed queue ropes outside the arrival hall to control human traffic at the airport and to make sure that families and friends waiting to pick arriving passengers do not crowd the entrance as it was before,’’ she said.
Yakubu said that FAAN had also provided buses to convey departing and arriving passengers to the tarmac to prevent passengers from getting injured from aircraft “blast”.
A blast is the heat generated from the engine of an aircraft.
“It is the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) recommended standard that people should not be allowed to walk on the tarmac for safety reasons.
“They can be at risk of blast from the engine of a plane or the aircraft itself because planes fly and land often.
“It is the duty of FAAN or the airline to provide passengers with operational vehicles for safety. In view of these, FAAN is using six vehicles to convey passengers, although some airlines also have theirs,’’ she said.
The FAAN official said the automated gates for collection of toll from vehicles entering the airport had begun daily operation.
