… says focus should be on hubs
Aviation professional and CEO, Sabre Consults, Doctor Gabriel Olowo, has kicked against the clamour for establishment of more airports by state governments, saying that focus should rather be on development of hubs.
Olowo who said this in a recent interaction with the aviation press claimed that most of the existing aerodromes are not commercially viable.
He therefore advised that efforts should be geared towards developing hubs at the major airports in the country, especially at Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos with so many terminals in order to attract more traffic and airlines.
Olowo who is also the current President of Aviation Safety Round Table Initiative (ARTSI), observed that most of the airports apart from the ones in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt are not commercially viable.
According to him, facilities that would make the existing airports a hub are still lacking in most of the country’s airports and mentioned the absence of concourse light train network to connect domestic and international terminals and vice versa in Lagos, Abuja, Portharcourt and Kano.
He added that modern technology facilities like self- checking service kiosk, and other such facilities are also lacking.
The ARTSI President pointed out that there exists too many toll gate check-points rather than the many agencies to share data and file a single watch-list with security.
“This is a major disincentive for hub development. Passenger facilitation is made more cumbersome rather than the global effort at making it seamless,” he said.
For cargo airports, he lamented that the intra and inter state road linkages to the airports are in deplorable states and wonder how such airports would be useful to farmers and other users to deliver their products.
Olowo emphasised that airports are not only expensive to build because of the many facility linkages but also expensive to maintain.
He submitted that there must be short and long term enforceable plan by succceeding governments before embarking on airport development if government were to be a continuum.
The aviation expert noted that one governor quiting and another abandoning the project such as revealed during the launch of Ogun state agro airport runway is lamentable.
He said: “For Lagos Airport for instance to become a hub, first class and world-class airport transfer connection facility is necessary.
“Concourse light train should be built to connect the terminals rather than allowing Transit and or Transfer passengers to check out of the customs, burst into the precarios mammoth crowd in rain and shine with their baggage in order to pick a taxi to the next connecting terminal.
“This is very absurd and a shame at Murtala Muhammed Airport in 45 years of its existence since 1978. Transit/Transfer passengers dread Lagos Airport especially in the evenings.
“Regarding cargo airports, the roads to take the products to the airports are either not available or in bad shape with high propensity for trucks to tumble and perishable goods destroyed.
“Explosive goods will also explode. Day old chicken and eggs massively destroyed.
“States should put their heads together for the establishment of safe, functional and durable interstate road linkages first rather than conceiving the idea of a new agro aerodrome.
“The airport in the western region of Ibadan and others like that are still operating below capacity .
“The geographical neighbouring states should cooperate on road and rail linkages and upgrade the airport to a world class standard for the service of Ogun, Oyo, Ondo, Ekiti and other states rather than individual state effort at establishing own airport.
“Its bad economics if airports are to deliver economic of scale.
“Airports maintainance are not cheap and must be done routinely. All we need is to make an effort at turning the existing ones ( after proper enhancement) into hubs.
“There must be deliberate effort to develop hubs and not by building non functional airport silos all over the states overstretching the already stressed treasury.”
On the plan by Abia and Edo state governments to build additional airports in their states, Olowo described it as good politics but bad economics.
“What is the status of once glorious Benin Airport. Why not revisit the old ruins?
He wondered if the state governments had short term and long term development plans for their states, stressing that each state should necessarily have five to 10 year development plan for their states, which must be strictly honored by subsequent leadership.
“Government should priortise the need of the people ranging from basics of life like food, shelter, heath and education,” Olowo advised.