Equipment fails at refurbished Lagos airport terminal

Minister of Aviation, Mrs. Stella Odua

A month after the refurbished General Aviation Terminal or domestic terminal of the Lagos airport was inaugurated, its effective performance is being hampered by  faulty cooling and conveyor systems, OYETUNJI ABIOYE writes.

Over one month after the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Pius Anyim, opened the remodelled new domestic terminal of the Lagos airport as a measure to relieve the pains experienced by passengers, the multimillion naira facility has yet to be put into normal operation due to technical hitches, investigation by our correspondent has revealed.

The facility, which was opened on October 22, 2012, it was gathered, might not be ready for regular use at least in the next three to four weeks.

According to findings by our correspondent, the cooling system is somehow faulty, while none of the two baggage conveyor belts in the departure and arrival halls is operational, thus restraining the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria from putting the facility into normal use.

More than one month after its inauguration, only arrival passengers were being cleared through the terminal from the facility.

However, pressure from the media was said to have forced FAAN to open the facility for normal use on Friday. But a top FAAN official, who spoke anonymously because he was not authorised to speak, confirmed that the facility was far from being ready for use. 

When our correspondent visited the facility in the afternoon on Sunday, passengers and airline officials were seen sweating under intense heat.  Some of the airline officials were seen installing industrial fans to keep the place cool. 

It was also observed that the baggage conveyor belts at the departure and arrival halls were not working.

The entire departure and arrival terminal portrayed a picture of dishevelled operations, as checked-in baggage was manually carried from check-in desks to the baggage screening machine by some men.

Some passengers, who spoke to our correspondent, said apart from having a new building, the hardships and pains encountered in the initial make-shift canopies provided before the refurbishment were still being experienced in the new terminal.

According to sources familiar with the situation, the government in a bid to quickly complete and inaugurate the project, had jettisoned the plan to install the standard central cooling system, called chillers and found at airport terminals across the world, in the facility.

Consequently, the split units of air conditioners were later introduced as a hurried measure to finish the project.

According to findings, the development has, however, brought about performance hitches, which have forced FAAN to suspend putting the facility into normal use.

Specifically, it was gathered that about 50 per cent of the split AC units installed inside the terminal in place of the standard central chillers had yet to start working, thus making the arrival and departure halls to be very hot.

The development has been cited as one of the reasons the departure and arrival halls of the terminal were very hot on the day of the inauguration. Our correspondent, who also attended the inauguration ceremony, recalled that standing fans were used to keep the terminal bearable for invited guests during the short programme

However, a top aviation official said the contractors had been working round the clock to ensure that the remaining split air conditioning units become operational, at least, within the next one month.

A source close to the situation said, “The contractor has yet to hand over the GAT facility to FAAN, even though it has been inaugurated. The truth is that there are issues with the cooling system. They are working round the clock to fix it.

“Going by the initial plan, which is the standard thing for an airport terminal facility like this, the new GAT was meant to be installed with normal airport cooling system called chillers. But the plan was altered because the ministry wanted the project to be completed on time.

“The contractors told them that if they wanted the facility to be installed with the chillers, it would take at least two years to complete. This is because it will take time to install the chilling system.

“But because they wanted something they could quickly inaugurate, the government jettisoned that plan and came up with this patch up plan by installing AC units, which are not expected to be seen in a standard airport facility like this.”

FAAN officials told our correspondent that plans were on to also bring in some units of industrial ACs into the terminal to enable flight operations to commence in the new General Aviation Terminal before Christmas.

According to insider sources, the industrial AC units are part of those that FAAN is using under the make-shift canopies being used for flight operations when the new terminal was being constructed.

Industry stakeholders, however, said it would be a disgrace for FAAN to be using industrial AC units in “a modern terminal built for N648m.”

Another hitch facing FAAN over the new GAT facility has to do with the fact that the contractor has ordered for a wrong motor that cannot power the conveyor belts at the departure hall.

Findings revealed that the capacity of the electric motor that should have been ordered from China to power the conveyor belt was 350 volts, whereas the one brought was less than 250 volts.

However, FAAN officials gave an assurance that the right electric motor had been ordered and would arrive in the country in one month.

A similar fate had befallen the Murtala Muhammed Terminal Two built by Bi-Courtney Aviation Services in 2007.

It was alleged that the central chillers at the facility were not effective because of pressure to quickly get it completed and inaugurated in April 2007 by the then President Olusegun Obasanjo, who was to leave office in May.

However, the General Manager, Corporate Communications, FAAN, Mr. Yakubu Dati, said the new GAT had been put into partial use.

On why the agency installed packaging AC units instead of the standard central chillers, Dati said, “On the cooling system, the technical experts are exploiting the best options available for the cooling of the Terminal 1. Being a facility of world-class standard, it is pertinent to also install commensurate cooling system befitting of such an edifice.”

On why the departure hall’s conveyor belts were not working, he said, “While it is noteworthy to state that the installation of conveyor belts has been completed, a small but major challenge we are currently facing is that the output capacity of our power supply is higher than what is obtained in the motor of the belts.

“Efforts have been concluded to get a step-down transformer to suit that purpose.”

The FAAN spokesman said the facility would be fully operational before Christmas.

“I wish to reiterate that start-up operational problems are common in construction and gaps discovered are being addressed immediately in conjunction with the contractor, who is still on site,” he added.