Bayelsa International Airport to remain closed over security issues – NCAA

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has revealed that
the N60 billion aerodrome of the Bayelsa International Airport
which was opened on February 15, 2019 with an inaugural flight, may
not operate until it resolves pending International Civil Aviation
Organization (ICAO) security requirements.

The Acting Director General of the NCAA, Capt. Abdullahi Sidi,
said on Monday at his Lagos office that the lack of perimeter
fencjng around the airport has been the reason why it is yet to
operate flights like other aerodromes.

He emphasised that the issue was safety related and has nothing
to do with politics

Captain Sidi said a perimeter fencing around the airport is a
non-negotiable security feature for the airport’s functionality,
and until the issue is resolved, the airport will remain
closed.

“Perimeter fencing is the number one requirement for airport
safety. When I asked Bayelsans, they said they’ve not finished the
perimeter fencing, that they have completed it to 60-80 percent,
but on the other side is a creek, water and so on but that is not
acceptable,” Capt. Sidi explained.

“If you have water or creek on one side of an airport without
fencing, even if you have crocodiles, somebody can ride a boat and
get into the airport and then enter your aeroplane and become a
stowaway passenger in your airport. Do you understand? Perimeter
fencing is what is remaining for Bayelsa Airport to function. There
is nothing political about it. We don’t joke with security issues.
If we have to close an airport because of security, we will do so
until they comply.”

On certification of airports, Captain Sidi said the country is
looking forward to the certification of the Port Harcourt
International Airport and the Malam Aminu Kano International
Airport (MAKIA) after the 2017 certification of both the Murtala
Muhammed International Airport, Lagos and the Nnamdi Azikiwe
International Airport, Abuja.

“This certification process is not as easy as it looks,
especially when you allow the infrastructure to be unattended to
for quite a long time, and then over a period of time there are
changes. If you are not proactive on those changes, you find out by
the time you want to do this certification, the airport is either
finding it difficult to meet up with the requirements or you give
them time,” Sidi said.

“In airport certification, you look at the runway where the
airplane lands, you look at the taxiway where the aeroplane parks;
you look at the terminal building, then you also look at the
equipment that brings in the aeroplane, the VOR and ILS and these
are supposed to be calibrated. For the VOR, its 12 months and for
the ILS its 6 months. So every airport must have a serviceable
landing aid and you make it serviceable by doing the calibration at
these specific intervals.

“We calibrate because we want safe take-off and landing and
these are parts of the certification processes,” he added.

He further explained that the NCAA has gone a step further to
commence airport certification training.

“We brought people from abroad to come and polish our airport
certification inspectors, both staff of the Nigeria Airspace
Management Agency (NAMA) and Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria
(FAAN). Right now as we speak, they are in the class for this
training. There is something called recurrent training, after the
basic training. Recurrent training comes at intervals and refreshes
your mind,” he said.

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