Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited,
operators of the Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal Two in Lagos, says
the delay in the planned commencement of regional and international
flights at the terminal is due to regulatory approval yet to be given by
the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority.
This, it said, was contrary to claims in
some quarters that insufficient space for parking of aircraft was
responsible for the delay.
Bi-Courtney said it had obtained
authorisation from the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria to commence
regional operations at the MMA2 in line with its concession agreement,
but regulatory approval from the NCAA was still required before it could
commence operations.
In a statement by its spokesman, Aderemi
Ladigbolu, BASL insisted that the delay in obtaining NCAA’s approval
had nothing to do with the size of its apron or any other operational
issue.
“The NCAA team of inspectors had
concluded their inspection and submitted their report. What remains now
is the official clearance by the regulatory agency,” it said.
It explained that various teams of
inspectors from the NCAA and other statutory agencies, including the
Department of State Security, Nigerian Immigration Service, National
Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Nigerian Customs Service and the Port
Health Service, supervised its preparation for the international
operations to ensure it complied with all the requirements.
It noted that all the agencies had also
deployed their personnel in the terminal in readiness for the
commencement of international operations, while the Ministry of Interior
had already accorded the MMA2 the status of an entry point into the
country.
“We don’t have any issue with parking
space for aircraft. That is a false allegation. FAAN has authorised
commencement of operations, but we still need other approvals from the
NCAA.
0 Comments