THE ongoing remodeling of eleven airports in Nigeria pales into insignificance if it is to be compared to the enormous resources sunk into building new airport terminals in major aviation hubs around the globe.

Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah-Ogiewonyi, has taken the initiative to ‘remodel’ most of the country’s decrepit facilities. The decay dates back to over two decades, but not a few believe that the present situation goes beyond remodeling or ‘patching’ up of facilities. It calls for a total replacement.

The Guardian was privileged to be one of 16 major media organisations around the globe invited to witness history; the opening of the gigantic, state-of-the-art Maynard H. Jackson Jr. International Airport Terminal at the Hartsfield International Airport, Atlanta, Georgia.

Just last week, Atlanta opened a new door to the world. With its sweeping roofline, gentle metallic curves and glass façade, the terminal welcomes millions of world travellers for decades to come when it opened on May 16, 2012.

Perfect time for an expected surge in international travel over the next decade, the international terminal and its new concourse connects with Concourse E to create 40-gate international air travel complex.

The cutting-edge LEED certified (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) facility is the new global gateway through which travellers from throughout the world connect with 160 U.S. destinations.

The international terminal features many high quality concessions that capture the spirit and vitality of Atlanta. Shopping and dining options include gourmet markets, healthy eating selections and the latest retail electronics and entertainment outlets.

“The new international terminal is Atlanta’s new front door to the world,” Richard Anderson, Delta’s chief executive officer, said while briefing the media from around the globe who came to witness history of the opening of terminal at the busiest airport in the world.

Predicting the competitive effect of Atlanta’s new terminal is somewhat uncertain, industry observers say, because airlines are hesitant to invest in new routes, given the weakness of the economy in the United States and abroad.

Nevertheless, at least one carrier, Delta Air Lines, has invested millions of dollars in Atlanta, in a terminal it regards as “Atlanta’s new front door to the world,”  Anderson said.

One could not but marvel at the huge $1.4 billion investment. A tour of the facility one hour before its commissioning left one in utter amazement of money well spent. There was accountability of how the fund was sourced and judiciously spent as Atlanta opened a new front door to the world.

Many thoughts raced through my mind on what the Nigeria’s sector did with the billions of naira and millions of dollars that accrued from Passenger Service Charges (PSC) and from other non-aeronautical services, which raked in more money from other sources of revenue.

Unlike Atlanta, The Nigerian aviation sector is replete with documented evidences of corruption. This range from allegation of fraud over advertising concession, overseas training that never took place in the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).

There has been reported fraud by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and an advertising firm.

Also of concern is allegation that the agency paid huge sums of fund for overseas training that never took place.

Another allegation is that the minister is directly handling billions of naira sunk into the remodeling project without any budgetary provision in the 2011 budget and input from FAAN.

It is apparent that if we must catch up in having not just ‘remodeled airports’, but also continuous airports of international standard, the framework to commercialise FAAN should be in place.

Indeed, the Atlanta International Airport ranks as the busiest and profitable world over. Can the same be said of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos with the huge and highly mobile population? Are there lessons to learn from the “slot saga”? The answer is yes.

British airport authority is commercialized and insulated from the “claws” of the Minister. The South African model of airport administration also stares us in the face.

The country needs an airport authority that will run as a pure commercial entity and not as a unit in the office of an Aviation Minister as has been the case for the past 12 years.

Many of the country’s airports are in serious state of disrepair. It is, however, doubtful whether this current remodeling exercise is actually what is needed. The minister has been lauded for taking the initiative to give Nigerians better airport facilities.

What is needed, however, is serious injection of funds to build at least two modern terminals in Lagos and Port-Harcourt.

Another lesson in all of this is that airline business has gone beyond grandstanding and pretences. Nigerian airline operators need to have good business model that could make them strong enough to compete with their counterparts elsewhere.

Author of this article: By Wole Shadare who was in Atlanta, Georgia

Posted by admin on May 27 2012. Filed under Headlines. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry