AN airport is not merely where planes land and take off. It is a window through which the first-time traveller observes the country he is visiting. He is either enthralled or disgusted.
Unfortunately, this fact seems lost on Nigeria, 89 years after it built its first airport in Kano, now called the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport.
For instance, passenger satisfaction is the exception rather than the rule at the major gateway into Nigeria, the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos. The facilities in the departure hall are underwhelming; the floor tiles are broken or cracked in places, and the seats are insufficient. Unfortunately, this has been so for years.
The worst is yet to come. The cooling system, despite appearing new, is grossly inadequate. Passengers and staff resort to manually fanning themselves. This is embarrassing at a so-called international airport. The authorities could adopt solar energy to reduce costs while providing a cooling system.
The MMIA runway requires repairs, appearing cracked at points. This should occur speedily to prevent devastating consequences.
In defence of the MMIA, ubiquitous touting and ticket racketeering have drastically reduced. But officials still ask passengers for gratification before and after providing services. Their main refrains are, “Your boys are here; Anything for the weekend? And what did you bring back for us?” This casts Nigeria in a bad light. It is anti-foreign direct investment.
Many countries overcame these embarrassments long ago. Lee Kuan Yew, the modern founder of Singapore, cleaned up the country’s aviation structure as his initial reform programme.
Indeed, the airport is the first opportunity to sell a country to the world and attract tourists and foreign exchange. It is a serious business requiring huge investments and upgrades for even bigger dividends.
The report of an Air Peace flight running into an antelope at Asaba airport on May 11 is a reminder that Nigeria’s airports are lagging, weighed down by operational lapses, and risks. The aircraft was damaged. Fortunately, no life was lost beyond that of the antelope, but the incident highlights the recurrent danger which unfenced airports pose to aviation.
In May 2011, an Arik Air plane was forced into an emergency landing in Lagos after a flock of birds got into the aircraft’s engine. In November 2016, cows kept an Air Peace flight circling over the Sam Mbakwe International Airport in Owerri while the security team scrambled to get rid of the beasts.
Little wonder that no Nigerian airport is among the top 10 in Africa. The Cape Town International Airport in South Africa is the best, per the 2025 Skytrax World Airports Awards. It is the cleanest and the best in staff service.
It processes over 10 million passengers annually, thanks to its high-tech resources and top-notch security. The classy duty-free shopping and numerous restaurants are other attractions.
The Addis Ababa Bole International Airport, one of the largest in Africa, is in sixth position.
On the world stage, the Singapore Changi Airport is king. Its passenger experience is unrivalled. Before your flight, you could warm up with a game of tennis or football or take the family down the world’s tallest tubular slide. You may plunge into the swimming pool or watch 1,000 enchanting butterfly species in a garden. The world’s tallest indoor waterfall, cascading from 130 feet, leaves pleasant memories.
But there is a semblance of new life in the new wing of the MMIA. An e-gate has curbed passenger delays, the carousels are better, and the crowds have thinned down, but the cooling system is inadequate.
Parking has improved, but even Aviation Minister Festus Keyamo admits there is a mountain of work to be done.
Keyamo should improve the ethos in the airports. The aviation workers are the face of Nigeria, and they should always exhibit their best behaviour.
