The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) says it is prioritising simple, efficient and adaptable technologies to improve airport operations and passenger experience while accommodating the country’s diverse population.
FAAN’s managing director, Olubunmi Onabanjo-Kuku, said this during a panel session at the World Aviation Festival in Lisbon, themed “Defining the Airport of the Future: Technology, Partnerships and People.”
She said Nigeria’s more than 250 languages and diverse demographics made it necessary to adopt airport technologies that catered to different categories of passengers rather than rely on a one-size-fits-all approach.
“So you need to put simple and efficient things that work for the particular demographic that I have; whether it is the younger passengers or the older passengers,” she said, according to a statement issued by FAAN on Sunday.
Onabanjo-Kuku stressed the need to channel revenue generated through aviation charges towards the purposes for which the fees were collected, particularly airport modernisation, safety and security.
She said FAAN was engaging the government to ensure that a greater proportion of the revenue remained available for airport development, acknowledging that technology upgrades and infrastructure improvements could affect pricing.
On airport accessibility, she highlighted collaboration between the federal and state governments to improve connections between cities and airports.
She said Abuja already had a rail system linking the city to the airport, while efforts were underway to modernise Lagos’ rail system.
She added that FAAN was working to complete the financing structure for the Lagos rail project.
“With five stops within our airport, Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), connecting our terminals, connecting our cargo terminals to the last stop,” she said.
She described the project as a collaboration between the state and federal governments.
Onabanjo-Kuku said FAAN’s investment strategy was anchored on three priorities, with safety taking precedence and particular attention given to airside infrastructure to sustain essential airport operations.
She said FAAN had rehabilitated major airports over the past three years, including the six primary international airports in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kano, Enugu and Maiduguri.
The interventions included complete runway resurfacing, runway extensions where possible at two airports, and improvements to airfield lighting systems, she said.
However, she said investment decisions had to reflect the distribution of passenger traffic across the country while ensuring airports with lower traffic volumes were not neglected.
According to her, three airports account for about 80 per cent of Nigeria’s air traffic, with Lagos alone handling 68 per cent.
She said Terminal 1 at Lagos’ MMIA was undergoing comprehensive rehabilitation to improve operational efficiency and passenger movement.
The project included the reconfiguration of immigration and customs counters to make them more passenger-friendly, as well as upgrades to technology and infrastructure, she said.
