Ensuring Upmost Utilisation of  Lagos Airport International Terminal

Chinedu Eze

After the unveiling of the new international terminal of the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMIA), Lagos in March 2022, it has remained underutilized, but Air Peace, pushed by nationalistic zeal moved to the facility shortly after it was opened to operate all its international and regional services.

Other airlines for different reasons were reluctant to relocate to the terminal.

On Monday, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed and a retinue of government officials toured the state-of-the-art terminal, which remains one of the best airport facilities in the sub-region.  The tour took the Minister through the check in area, passport control/Immigration Desks, screening machines, the 22-room hotel, six boarding gates, boarding areas, praying area for Muslims and Christians, Port health screening area, baggage claim area and arrival concourse. 

After the tour the Minister said: “I must confess it was an exhilarating experience comparable to what obtains anywhere in the world. The new International Terminal 2 of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, was not built to replace Terminal 1. It was built to complement it. That’s why we were told that you could check in at one terminal 1 and board at the other. So there is a handshake between the two terminals. 

“It was the first terminal added to the original terminal since it was built some 40 years ago. The Terminal 2 Project started in 2013 and was completed by the present administration in 2022 under a bilateral agreement with the People’s Republic of China. The terminal, which has state-of-the art facilities and fittings, has the capacity to process 14 million passengers per annum. It has 60 check-in counters, five baggage Claim Belts, 16 departure desks and 28 arrival desks.”

He also stated that there were eight security screening points at the international terminal 2 and seven passenger boarding bridges.

Mohammed also observed the new experience it has brought in terms of aesthetics, comfort, free trolley services, hotel and premium lounges, friendly customer services and free WiFi, adding that over 10,000 direct and indirect job opportunities have been created in the new terminal.

“Gentlemen, what you have seen at the terminal in Lagos is replicated in four other terminals across the country in Abuja, Port Harcourt, Enugu and Kano. This edifice, and the others like it, is a testament to the commitment of the Buhari administration’s unprecedented infrastructure development covering roads, bridges, rail, water dams, sea ports, etc. No administration in the history of Nigeria has done this much, especially at a time of scarcity of resources,” he said.

After several months of underutlisation of the terminal, the Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Captain Rabiu Hamisu Yadudu revealed during the press conference that eight international carriers would move to the terminal, but five would relocate their services to the facility in the next two weeks.

He also said that the facility had to be tested and reviewed to be sure that it met the given safety and other conditions before it is subjected to full utilisation.

“On the area of the operations of airlines, aviation is a very sensitive business. We will rather take our time than to start on the wrong footing and that does not mean nothing is being done. From the 1st of September, which is in the next two weeks, five more airlines are scheduled to start operations in the new international terminal. A lot of integration has to be done. More than eight airlines showed interest but five are starting from 1st of September from the international terminal. 

“There is a connecting area with the old terminal where passengers are move from one terminal to the other. We need to have the aircraft to be able to park at one side. The second part is that FAAN is working with the federal government to ensure the clearing of obstruction so that there will be accessibility for the planes to park in that area,” Yadudu said.

The Minister also threw light on the uitilisation of the old and new terminals, which have been connected to function together. He explained that a passenger could board his flight in one terminal after checking in in another. 

“You can arrive in one terminal and pick your luggage in another terminal and this has taken care of the issue of interface between the two terminals. I was here 40 years ago when the first terminal was commissioned. There is a time between the commissioning of an airport and when the airport becomes operational. You know aviation is unforgiving of any mistake. So we need to test-run and be extremely certain that every equipment is working optimally. The beauty of it is that this airport has become operational. You can come in here and continue to various parts of the world. When the old airport was commissioned, it took quite a while for it to become operational. The new international terminal is not to replace the old one but to complement it. It is gradually, and very soon this airport will be very busy. You can see that terminals are not used only by airlines. We have restaurant operators; banks, foreign exchange operators etc and you have to screen people over and over again before it becomes operational,” he said.

The Minister said the issue of maintenance up to the cleaning of the airport had been taken care of, noting that FAAN would not compromise safety, cleanliness and operational standards at the facility.

“At the beginning some people said we should give the maintenance of the airport to local companies but I said what is important is safety and security. Gradually we will give the maintenance to competent people who will also be obliged within a certain time to transfer technology to local companies. As at today, the best company in the world is taking care of the maintenance of this airport. On the old terminal, when you build a terminal for 40 years for 200 thousand passengers and today it carries about eight million passengers. This is why there is a need for this terminal to complement the old terminal and take off some of the load from there. This terminal is built to accommodate and process 14 million passengers annually,” he said.