Abuja as Model of Contemporary Airport Infrastructure

In the last few years, the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja has advanced to become the best airport facility in Nigeria. Government should replicate it at other airports in Nigeria, writes Chinedu Eze

As at December 12, 1991 when the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, took over as Nigerian capital, the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport was a make-shift contraption, whose infrastructure was not close to the popular Maiduguri, Yola, Sokoto or Kaduna airports at that time.

Then the first flight that landed at the airport was a stop-over that the pilot in command persuaded passengers to bear with the flight crew just to make a stop at the new airport.

But many years later, the Abuja airport is only second to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos and in terms of functional facility and modernity. The airport has over stripped the nation’s busiest airport. In the few years to come, it is projected that the Abuja airport would become the busiest airport in Nigeria in terms of passenger traffic and aircraft movement.

Industry observers argue that the airport has room for expansion, which Lagos may not have; as capital of Nigeria it will attract more politico-economic activities in future at the time business expansion in Lagos might have stultified.

After the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport was one of the airports that recorded rapid growth in terms of passenger traffic.

In fact, since 2019, the domestic wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport has maintained its position as the most patronised domestic airport in Nigeria in terms of passenger movements. The total number of domestic air passengers that used Abuja airport was 4.51 million in 2019, 3.50 million in 2020, and 4.75 million in 2021. On the other hand, 4.29 million domestic passengers used the local wing of Muritala Muhammad Airport in Lagos in 2019; 3.11 million in 2020, and 4.09 million in 2021.

With modern facilities put in place in the last two years, the airport has become passengers favourite because of easy passenger facilitation, its cleanliness and hassle-free processes. In fact, THISDAY learnt that many Nigerians from the South East, South South, Middle Belt and of course, the north, prefer the Abuja airport when coming from overseas because of the state-of-the-art facilities.

Transformation

Staff of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) who spoke to THISDAY gave credit to the immediate past Regional Manager Central and Airport Manager of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, Mr. Kabir Mohammed, who is the current Managing Director of FAAN. Those who spoke to THISDAY said when he started the transformation process upon his appointment in March 2022, many of the workers thought it was the familiar situation whereby he would lose steam after few weeks but they later realised that the man had a strong plan and the right determination to achieve his plan.

“Then we began to strictly follow his guidelines and instructions. Within just one year he made changes we could never imagine could be done in five years. With vast knowledge in different sectors of Nigeria’s economy and in government, Mohammed remains a seasoned aviator with invaluable wealth of experience in the aviation industry. It was his experience and vision that he brought to bear on the sudden transformation of the Abuja airport. I know he had a lot of training in aviation because he is my boss. We love his disciplined attitude to work. Some of us that work closely with him know he does not take nonsense but appreciates hard work and commitment,” said a senior FAAN official who worked with him when Mohammed was Personal Assistant to the former Managing Director of FAAN, Mr. Saleh Dunoma and who was also in Abuja under him as Regional/Airport Manager.

Landscape Development

Nigerians who use the Abuja airport can recall the anarchic traffic and the haphazard parking of vehicles. The undulating landscape and the unguarded vehicular movement made the parking area very chaotic.

But when Mohammed took over, he introduced what is now referred to as FAAN Taxi Solution. This solution was designed, developed and deployed to address numerous challenges that plagued all stakeholders at the airport, including FAAN officials, legacy car hire operators, passengers exiting the airport and chauffeurs who drive their bosses to the airport. The FAAN Taxi Solution was designed to provide some benefits and these include the elimination of touting and consistent passenger harassment; elimination of intensive revenue loss and improved revenue generation; improved security of the airports, riders and drivers; and the provision of seamless and centralised information technology. It also provides platform and solution for car hire companies and their respective fleets.

Above all, the FAAN Taxi Solution was also aimed at providing structured loading and parking bay for efficient pickup of riders; and to regulate and control drivers misconduct.

The then Regional General Manager of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, Mohammed, introduced FAAN Taxi Solution on May 19, 2022 and it became operational on October 1, the same year.

“Since then, the FAAN Taxi Solution has scheduled over 231,000 rides since its inception in October 2022, deployed and configured dashboards for over 10 car hire companies with their respective fleets. The Solution has successfully captured, trained and deployed over 1,800 providers under their respective companies and as at today, the solution has generated over N1.6 billion for drivers.

“The solution has in the past seven months improved revenue generation for FAAN by over 600 per cent. With an expected revenue growth of over 800 per cent by August, 2023, the solution has immensely minimised touting to the barest minimum and is still doing more. Despite all the challenges faced and currently being mitigated, the solution is performing beyond expectation, with improved rides per day, revenue, touting elimination and seamless automated wallets and payments.  Riders can now be seen walking and taking rides from the loading bay without being harassed,” FAAN insider told THISDAY.

The FAAN official also told THISDAY that the FAAN Taxi Solution frowns at passenger exploitation, the solution ensures zero tolerance to company cross-carpeting and the solution deactivates any driver who does such.

“The FAAN Taxi Solution is committed to its vision and goals and promise to deliver state-of-the-art-services in the nearest future. We remain committed to providing seamless user experience while addressing associated challenges. The FAAN Taxi Solution has also provided over 50 direct jobs and over 300 indirect jobs in the FCT. We hope to replicate same in all the states the solution is to be deployed,” the official further said.

Improved Facilities, Revenue

Since the implementation of FAAN Taxi Solution in October last year, there has been a boost in FAAN’s revenue at the Abuja Airport. Revenues from VIP/car sticker rose by 2005 per cent; car hire revenue rose by 371 per cent and revenue for car park rose by 800 per cent because anyone that drives into the airport must be in the car park and once you enter the car park, you must pay for parking. The boost in revenue surprised many officials of the agency who described the new innovations as unprecedented.

Under Mohammed, the management of the Abuja airport was able to tame the chaos in terms of vehicular traffic. It could be recalled that due to its high inflow and outflow of travellers, Abuja airport experienced congestion within its drop off and pick up points “but as a result of a few alterations to the car parks, the airport has experienced drastic improvement in its flow of traffic.”

That traffic jam that starts at the arrival at the terminal was always unnerving, especially for those who were hurrying to meet their flights. But that has become a thing of the past since last year.

“The expansion of the premium car park as well as the regular car park has aided in reducing the amount of time it takes airport users to find a convenient parking spot and go about their business with the airport environment. The completion of th international terminal carpark, which is yet to be commissioned also has promising potential to solving the issue of lack of parking space within the airport. A new vehicle parking area was created at GAT (General Aviation Terminal) by Civil Department to further aid in the appropriate parking of vehicles by airport users,” FAAN official explained to THISDAY.

He further said: “The relocation of the mosque has aided in the creation of the new parking spaces,giving Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja (NAIA) a much deserved face lift. Also notable is the creation of an access road between the General Aviation Terminal and the International Terminal. The convenience shops were also relocated to a location suitable for business. The creation of a crash road for emergencies has also contributed to giving NAIA a new look. The crash road is critical for safety, which is key in aviation.”

Digitisation

Mohammed started the digitisation project that enables only the travellers to access the airside of the airport with their boarding pass. This and other similar projects have been successfully completed; thereby, “giving NAIA the upper hand in the technology world.”

Other technological projects include the paid parking initiative, “which is one of these commendable projects that doesn’t only provide an easy tracking system, but also aides the flow of traffic.”

“A notable achievement is the establishment of a paid parking service, which has helped in tracking processes at the car park by airport users and to protect vehicles from abrupt theft by ensuring presentation of a receipt on departure from the car park. This has assisted in tracking the use of airport facilities; therefore, reducing congestion as well as loitering at the landside. It has pushed NAIA a step forward in technology. Other technological developments include the introduction of the E-access On-Duty Card as well as the e-access to the departure hall,” FAAN staff explained to THISDAY.

He added that the various projects which were embarked on have proved their worth, creating more room for inflow of funds through the paid parking and the new premium car park, disclosing that a very notable project “would be the installation of phonics wailers to manage bird strikes. This will help reduce such incidents and risks on aircraft in the future.”

The FAAN official also told THISDAY that all the attention was not focused on the airport but also on its staff.

“The staff quarter also underwent remarkable improvement as a new fence was constructed, ensuring that the security of the staff is assured.”

The former Managing Director of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Mr. Nnamdi Udoh, confirmed to THISDAY, the improved facilities at the Abuja airport. He acknowledged that FAAN “is now earning huge revenue from its Abuja airport from the great job Kabir (Mohammed) did at the airport.”

By employing competent hands, FAAN can extend this development to other airports and now that Mohammed is the Managing Director of FAAN, it is also expected he would deploy personnel with such competences to also transform the other airports, just as he is expected to also improve the overall growth of the agency.