FAAN Security Arrests Teenager Attempting to Board Cargo Aircraft

FAAN   

FG confirms designation of Emirates, Turkish Airlines to Kano airport

Security operatives of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) Sunday arrested a teenager described as a trespasser who was making his way into Allied Air cargo aircraft,at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos.

The teenager was said to have been spotted by the airside staff of the Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCo) who were handling the aircraft in preparation for a flight.

Although it was not confirmed his motive for trying to board the flight as indications showed that the aircraft was not scheduled to leave yesterday to any destination.

Reacting to the incident, the General Manager, Corporate Communications of FAAN, Yakubu Dati, warned the public that the authority would henceforth apply strict sanctions against anyone caught on the airside or within the restricted areas of our airports without proper authorisation.

“The safety and security of the airport environment falls under purview of FAAN so the authority will no longer allow unscrupulous elements to commit security breach at our airports thereby diminishing the giant strides made by the federal government in transforming the country’s aviation industry, the dividends of which are evident at all our airports,” Dati said.

He remarked that since the incident of the stowaway boy Daniel Ohikhena, who flew from Benin to Lagos in the belly of the wheel of an Arik aircraft, FAAN security personnel had apprehended a few "copycats" trying to replicate the incident.
Meanwhile, the federal government has confirmed its approval of the designation of major international carrier, Emirates to Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano and the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

With the approval, Emirates and Turkish Airlines, which were recently designated to the Kano airport, would join other airlines like Middle East Airlines, Egypt Air to airlift passengers from the city that recorded the first flight in Nigeria.
Dati, who made the confirmation yesterday, said the federal government had given approval for the airlines to fly to Kano, but noted that Emirates would have to determine when it would start the service in accordance to its own logistics.

“You can contact Emirates and confirm. It has been designated to fly to Kano and Abuja so the delay in starting the route is not that of government. There are issues which the airline must have to consider which include safety and security, profitability of the route and so on. On safety and security, we assure the airline and other airlines operating from Kano airport that the airport environment is safe and secure. The security in the town of Kano is beyond us,” Dati said.

He noted that the objective of the federal government was to transform the air transport sector and make aviation a major revenue earner for airlines, other investors and government, so it would do anything possible to enhance domestic and international airline operations in Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano.

“If we do not want to boost air transport in Kano, why did government invest huge resources to build the international terminal which has met the standards of any good airport facility in the world? Before now a new domestic facility had been built and we are building perishable cargo terminal, knowing how strategic Kano is in terms of business, as depot for farm produce from the northern region and as city of first choice for the majority of Nigerians,” he said.

Dati said  the construction of the new international terminal had already started at the Kano airport and all other facilities and equipment needed for seamless air travel from the newly remodelled international terminal was being installed to make the airport one of the best in Africa and in the world.

According to him, “government has lofty plans for the airport in Kano and that is why it installed state of the art facilities there, built the first hajj terminal there and is building a new international terminal that would epitomise the aviation master plan. So government needs to be encouraged and not to be criticised as some people are doing. To boost the nation’s economy, we need viable air transport sector for safe flight operation.”