The aviation industry stakeholders have stated that Nigerian airlines lose about N4 billion in revenue annually due to the inability to operate flights longer than standard hours. They identified the lack of airfield lighting at some airports, paucity of air traffic controllers and insecurity as reasons for the limitation of airlines to operate their aircraft for longer hours.
According to industry experts, a Boeing 737 could operate for over 16 hours a day. However, in Nigeria, only a few airports operate for 24 hours, and these include Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, and Kano airports. Others largely operate from 6:30 am to 6:30 pm daily and most aircraft operate only for about eight to 10 hours rotation due to ground turnaround, which is gross underutilization of the equipment.
A senior official of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), said that beyond the absence of airfield lighting at some airports, the major challenge is that the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) does not have enough Air Traffic Controllers (ATC) personnel to run shifts, “and because of this some airports in Nigeria cannot operate beyond 6:00 to 7:00 pm daily.” He said Air Traffic Controllers are not allowed to work longer hours because of the critical role play in safe flight operation, emphasizing that stretching them could lead to dire consequences.
