The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, has commenced an intensive re-assessment of runways at the nation’s airports.
FAAN, in a statement by Yakubu Henrietta, the General Manager, Corporate Affairs, said that as a short term measure to increase the safety of the Port Harcourt runway, the Authority just carried out a de- rubberization exercise between 15 to 22 June 2019 to remove any contaminant.
This move, she said is aimed at improving on the efficiency of the facilities, thereby forestalling potential accidents on the runways.
“Although the regular friction measurement for Port Harcourt International Airport was conducted in March 2019 and the result falls within the minimum friction coefficient level, the facility witnessed a skidding incident recently.
It is therefore with the intention to increase the friction coefficient levels of our runways in accordance with NCAA advisory circular that the Authority is embarking on this exercise across the nation’s airports as the rain is becoming very heavy and unpredictable.
Meanwhile, the NCAA has called on pilots and airline operators to exercise extreme caution during flight operations due to the commencement of the rainy season with the attendant thunderstorms.
NCAA also notified intending air travellers and airline operators “to note that in line with Standard and Recommended Practices (SARPs) Air Traffic Controllers (ATC) may temporarily close airspace during inclement weather conditions”.
According to the NCAA, the rainy season which is torrential is prevalent in the Southern and Northern parts of Nigeria and it is usually accompanied by severe thunderstorms which could impact the safety of flight operations.
The General Manager, Public Relations of NCAA, Mr Sam Adurogboye, explained that there are many hazardous weather occurrences such as severe turbulence, microburst or low-level wind-shear and occasionally hail events that are bound to affect air navigation.
The regulatory authority, therefore, directs all pilots to recourse to utmost restraint whenever adverse weather is observed or forecast by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMET).
