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July 28, (THEWILL) Stakeholders in Nigerias aviation industry have expressed worry over Lufthansas decision to continue operations with a full passenger load at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, despite prior warnings to review flight schedules during a scheduled runway repair.
This comes amid revelations that contradict earlier reports which claimed that Lufthansa pilots were unaware of the runways damaged section, allegedly forcing them to offload some passengers and luggage to achieve maximum take-off thrust.
Investigations by THEWILL have now confirmed that a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) was duly issued by the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), alerting airlines of the planned runway maintenance.
In addition, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), which oversees the airports operations, also sent a formal advisory to all airlines.
The advisory, obtained by THEWILL, was issued on Wednesday, July 23, and announced a temporary runway closure from 10 p.m. on July 24 to 4 a.m. on July 25 to allow for repairs on a depressed section of the pavement.
The message read in part:
Good morning, all airline operators. Kindly note that RWY 04 will be closed shortly from 10 p.m. tonight (24th July) to 4 a.m. tomorrow (25th July) local time to carry out planned repairs on the depressed section of the pavement.
Furthermore, all flight operations during this period are advised to be reviewed accordingly. Please be aware that operations have been constrained by the weather conditions and are guided by the forecast during this period.
We apologise for any inconvenience caused as we work to restore the runway to normalcy for safe operation.
Further findings show that FAAN had already shared GPS coordinates of the affected runway section with airline operators as early as July 21.
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