FAAN Reopens Lagos Airport Runway

Federal Airport Authority Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has reopened the domestic runway (18L/36R) of Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA) in Lagos, for flight operations.

Gatekeepers News reports that FAAN made this known in a tweet on Friday, after four months of closure of the runway since July.

According to the Authority, after the installation of the new lighting system, the runway would be opened for 24 hours flight services.

FAAN said, “Domestic runway 18L/36R completed and open for 24 hours flight operations, installation of CAT Ill airfield ground lighting systems completed at Murtala Muhammed International Airport Lagos. Today 11 November 2022.”

In July 2022, FAAN said it would shut down runways 18L and 36R at MMA in Lagos to install an airfield ground lighting system.

It stated that the installations would commence on July 8 and are expected to be completed in 90 days.

The Authority assured domestic airlines that normal flight operations would not be affected by the installations.

FAAN had said, “…stakeholders are to note that there will be no disruption. All normal flight operations will be conducted through runway 18R/36L.”

However, things did not go as planned, as Nigerian airlines, under the aegis of Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), wrote to FAAN two weeks after the runway was closed, asking for an urgent review of the 90-day closure of the MMA runway.

AON’s letter, dated July 15, signed by its President, Abdulmunaf Yunusa, said the closure was taking a toll on its members’ operations as more costs had been incurred.

The AON had said, “The closure of the main domestic runway of MMA automatically adds an additional 10-15 percent more fuel costs per sector into and out of MMA, based on the additional flight and taxi time incurred as a result.

“The airlines have already felt these additional costs within the first week of the closure of the runway. This unnecessary burden is unsustainable for 3 months on the airlines.”