Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has received international certification for Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, from Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).
The Minister of State, Aviation, Hadi Sirika, received the certification of FAAN and Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) in Abuja on Tuesday.
Describing the development as remarkable, he said Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, was the first international Airport in Nigeria to meet the requirement by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and NCAA regulations.
Said he: “This is indeed a huge achievement as far as we are concerned, Mr President had told us to secure this country and manage it, therefore, in line with his vision we align in building institutions and getting them to work well.
“Because once that is achieved it means that we are managing the country well, strong institutions will definitely beget strong nation.
“The country had tried time and again to certify our airports in the past.
“It is a global requirements by International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) convention and Aerodrome requires that airports must be standardised.
“Under different ownership, under different cultures and climates, under different conditions all over the world and they must be standardised and they must reflect certain minimum standard of safety and security.
“This made it very paramount to ensure that our airports are certified.
“We promised the nation that we will get these airports certified, today by the grace of God we have achieved that milestone.”
Sirika, however, commended the Ministry of Transportation for making the certification achievable and possible, stating that they hoped to get certification for Nnamdi Nzikiwe airport before the end of the year.
He said they would ensure that both international and domestic airports got certified.
The Minister of State noted that the world would be at peace to know that Nigeria aviation is secured with flight operation being safe and secure within and outside the country.
He said that Mr President and the National Council had approved the concessioning of four major airports in the country – Abuja, Lagos, Kano and Port Harcourt.
Sirika further said that Nigeria would host the International Civil Aviation Organisation World Aviation Forum taking place in November in Abuja.
