The Air Transport Senior Staff Services Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) has called for the removal of abandoned aircraft parked at aprons across the country's airports.
Speaking to in Lagos, ATSSSAN’s President, Mr Benjamin Okewu, stated that the call was necessitated by two recent ground collision incidents of airplanes at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos.
It would be recalled that a Boeing 777-200LR belonging to Emirates Airline and a B737-400 owned by HAK Air collided on July 6 at the airport.
A similar incident involving two aircraft belonging to First Nation Airways aircraft occurred at the same airport on July 17 when an A319 taxiing into the terminal hit another parked A319 aircraft at the apron.
Okewu stated that the apron at the Lagos airport was congested, especially at the General Aviation Terminal (GAT), due to several unserviceable aircraft of some airlines that were abandoned there.
As stated by him, some people received "political" Air Operating Certificates (AOCs) and their aircraft had not flown for one day, but were abandoned at the apron.
“If we don’t quickly act to create space, more space around the apron and taxiing areas, there is no how we won’t experience some of these incidents,’ he stated.
Okewu called on the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to carry out proper planning and address the problem more decisively.
Mr Yakubu Dati, General Manager, Corporate Communications, FAAN, however, told that the authority had already issued a public notice to the owners of the aircraft to evacuate them.
Dati said: “We have already informed the owners to get rid of them or we shall get rid of them on their behalf.
“We have written to them and given them substantial notice so that they will not say they were not formally informed.
“As a law abiding organization, we are also trying to explore all legal means to resolve the issue.”