Nama and Edo State government step up work to provide night landing facilities at Benin airport by December

EDO State government and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (Nama) are working together to provide night landing facilities at the Benin airport in a bid to ensure that flight operations continue beyond the current threshold of 6pm.

Like many of Nigeria's airports, Benin has no night landing facilities and under plans being put into place, the facility would begin to receive night flights before December this year. Nama managing director Captain Fola Akinkuotu, said that it is part of a wider programme to make Edo State more accessible by air, which includes restoring air traffic services at Osubi airstrip, also known as Warri airport.

Speaking as the special guest of honour at the 5th annual general meeting of the National Air Traffic Communicators Association of Nigeria over the weekend in Benin City, Governor Godwin Obaseki, added: “I want to thank Captain Akinkuotu for the work he is doing in Benin airport, he has worked very closely with us to ensure that we have night landing facilities at Benin airport. That’s one of the reasons why I personally decided to attend this event to express the gratitude of Edo people to him and to Nama for all the support.”

According to the governor, the Benin airport remained one of the first five airports in the country with rapid passenger growth. Governor Obaseki noted that Nigeria with almost 200m people creates huge market for aviation with only about 1% travelling by air transport but this still remained high in when compared with other countries across the continent.

In Warri, services have been restored to the Osubi airstrip upon the payment of N31m by Shoreline Oil Services, operators of the airstrip. This is part payment of accumulated charges for the provision of air traffic services at the airstrip by Nama and leaves a debt balance of N566, 422, 000.50.

Nama said it took the difficult decision to withdraw air traffic services to the Osubi airstrip after Shoreline Oil Services persistently refused to honour financial obligation to us despite several entreaties. According to Nama, it did not shut down the airstrip but rather, it withdrew its services, noting that it does not have the powers to shut down any airport or airstrip.

Captain Akinkuotu said: “As a responsible corporate citizen and provider of critical services to the nation’s civil aviation sector, we felt obliged to restore our services to the airstrip with the understanding that Shoreline Oil Services will take full advantage of this window of opportunity to make additional payment that will substantially defray the above N566, 422, 000.50 debt as well as agree on a concrete and workable payment plan that will clear the outstanding balance. It is our hope that going forward, and in the spirit of the renewed understanding between both organisations, Shoreline will reciprocate this gesture by paying for our services as and when due."