Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport

[AVSEC]

Within two weeks,FAAN ABV xray monitor agents have failed to detect a cork screw in a pax hand luggage and just two days ago three daggers in another pax's hand luggage.
Reason,they are under staffed,and in some cases,just as in the Three daggers case,the team providing screening had worked a night shift of eight hours,and then had to continue working on the following shift.

ABV FAAN officials have resisted allowing aviation security staff of the airlines view the xray monitor during screening of pax hand luggage at the boarding gate,and since up until today,there was just one agent viewing the screen for as long as the operations lasted, and due to visual fatigue missed detecting dangerous weapons.

This means that airline staff are dependant on FAAN in ABV, notifying them of any dangerous items within hand luggage, unless of course they detect the item during random screening of pax hand luggage.

Due to VK having domestic operations at the ABV international airport,there are periods when domestic pax mingle with international pax in the restricted international terminal,and these domestic pax have to walk past international aircraft on the tarmac,before boarding their local flight.

Due to this mingling,VK domestic and other international pax get coinfused as to where they are to queue or where they are supposed to go,until a security procedure breach occures,then alerting airport officials of the pax error due to this confusion.

Protocol officers from foreign affairs and every other government agency within ABV, now escort "their pax" past the final screening point,until they are prevented from entering the aircraft for a fee.This of course leads to loud arguments and threats as they are prevented from boarding the aircraft as they attempt to escort their pax with his or her bag to their seat.

This has to stop.
If there are any members with influence with the Minister of aviation,this has to stop or there is no way this airport will pass the IOSA audit about to take place.

[Flying Touareg]

your best bet is to write a letter to the editor of a newspaper:ok:
we have nothing to do with borishade in pprune!!
A question though, how were the items eventually discovered?

[Rani]

Anybody in the know about the status of ABV's concessioning?
ACSA, Vienna Airport, and Nairanet consortium were shortlisted in June but the Bureau of Public Enterprises hasn't made a statement about the winner yet.

Hopefully the new operators will address the security issue pronto...

[AVSEC]

Rumor has it that the pax who was a delegate paliamentarian for Australia,went to the crew and showed them the knives which were locally made,within the aircraft.

[ZAZOO]

ACSA, Vienna Airport, and Nairanet consortium :rolleyes:

I hope these are Nigerian outfits!!!

[surely not]

With several high profile heists of bullion and money airside at JNB it would appear that ACSA are well placed to win the contract :E :rolleyes: :{

Lovely to see Avsec continuing his one man crusade against VK................I'm sure he knows all the facts and procedures that are in place to satisfy security about the robustness of the operation? Actually from his postings, I don't think he knows much!!!

[SIC]

Who is Nnamdi Azikiwe?? At least in most parts of the world they have the sense to name airports afetr someone people actually know.

Or am I just that out of touch and putting my foot in it ....

[Phenomenon]

Or am I just that out of touch and putting my foot in it

You're not alone... I can't even keep up with all the name changes. Where exactly is this Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport?

[dynamicd]

Who is Nnamdi Azikiwe?? At least in most parts of the world they have the sense to name airports afetr someone people actually know.

Or am I just that out of touch and putting my foot in it ....

Sic men I hope ure not African cos if u are then either u went through a pitiful school system or let the system pass through you.Sir Nnamdi Azikiwe or a.k.a zik was the first president of nigeria after independance on 1/10/1960.this eminent person is in the league of great african leaders that fought against colonialism such as Kwame Nkurmah of Ghana,JomoKenyatta of kenya.This are things u learn in primary school were I come from.This is an african forum take ure ignorance else were.

[Phenomenon]

Sic men I hope ure not African cos if u are then either u went through a pitiful school system or let the system pass through you

Have to say sir... I am African and I have never heard of this man. No doubt he was a great man, but this does not mean that that the whole of Africa will know him, especially since the whole of Africa doesn't revolve around Nigeria.

I bet you you can't tell me of the top of your head who the first president of the Republic South Africa was after colonial independence on 31 May 1961.

(Here's a hint, it was not Nelson Mandela) :ok:

[ZAZOO]

'Quote'
''Who is Nnamdi Azikiwe?? At least in most parts of the world they have the sense to name airports afetr someone people actually know. := ''

It makes me feel so proud how most of my Nigerian colleagues can tell you who is the personality named after nearly if not all the airports I have been to around the world. Also tentalizes me on their solid recognition and interest in foreign affairs and strong discussions one could have with the guys.

On the other hand most of my foreign colleagues just :ugh: well lets talk about that some other time;)

By the way someone knows who JFK is please just about to catch my flight to Paris and they call that airport Charles de something :ok:

Have a nice weekend fellas

Zaz

[SIC]

All right - thanks -I stand corrected. I sort of assumed it was the name for another recently renamed place in South Africa. As most here will know the current government is hellbent on finding heros to name things after....

( In 1994 when the ANC took power in SA it was categorically stated that they will not be renaming everything after politicians and freedom fighters - that has since been forgotten and the race is on now to get your favourite uncle's name on a signboard somewhere.)


What amazes me is that everything seems allways to be named after some politician - especially in Africa. And as far as I am concerned there is and was extremely few political leaders in the history of this world who deserves this honour.
What happened to all the other heros of our societies - the care workers, doctors, nature conservationists etc

[Rani]

It's just incredible to see most topics here so...politicized!

[AVSEC]

SURELY NOT,I am not a VK basher,I just need/am desperate/crave/desire for Nigeria's national carrier to contribute towards aviation security/airport security rather than making it more vulnerable to terrorism or other related sabotage.
Are you concerned?If not for other pax,then for yourself should you one day be happening to use the airport?
Any way i do my bit by warning this forum.You do yours by criticising my observations okay?

[surely not]

Avsec your 'concern' strikes me more of a self promotion and touting for business than a genuine concern for safety. Your early posts were mainly concerned with trying to get business and rubbishing the performance of others which isn't very professional.

Your post re pax mingling at Abuja didn't display too much research of the points raised. A little research would have told you that the issues were already dealt with in the operating procedures agreed by all the relevant agencies before operations started.

[chuks]

It isn't just Africa, you know! What we Americans knew for years as Washington National Airport has recently been re-named Ronald Wilson Reagan National Airport (or something like that, anyway). Idlewild Airport became John Fitzgerald Kennedy Airport.

In the outpouring of national grief after his assassination even a bit of land down in Florida had its name changed from Cape Canaveral to Cape Kennedy, although that one was later changed back, leaving just the Kennedy Space Center renamed.

When the US national capital needed a new airport they chose John Foster Dulles, a former Secretary of State and a bulwark of anti-Communism to name it after. More than one bewildered traveller has landed at IAD (Washington Dulles) when he or she really wanted DAL (Dallas, Texas).

'Zik' was a real character, always good for a notable quote even in his old age, when I was there in Nigeria. Every so often he would work up to a good rant about how all we expatriates must be expelled forthwith and never mind the boring reality of how so many of us were necessary to keep the oil industry running. I could always cheer myself up by reading a Zik rant and then checking the Page Three girl's hand-drawn bikini; sadly, both these things are no longer part of the local Nigerian scene, victims of progress I suppose.

It must be a useful bit of one-upmanship to name this airport so rather than just boring old 'Abuja' even if that's the name everyone uses.

[AVSEC]

SURELY NOT,this a forum where if one is interested,information about African airports/airlines can be picked up in a rumour format.
Dont you see job vacancies advertised here for the piloting fraternity to be aware of job opportunities?
There are also opportunies exposed here,for you and I to take advantage of for ourselves, or the organizations we work for.

You are entitled to a personal opinion of me.That does not worry me.
What worries me is that you believe I am biased against VK,and you could not be further from the truth.

The fact that FAAN and VK came to an agreement as to how pax could disembark and embark on/from a domestic airline operating in an international terminal does not mean it was the right decision,or a safe and secure decision in light of 11/09/01 and the attempt at Heathrow airport.

What you do not seem to understand is that the fact there has never been a terror attack in a Nigerian airport,does not mean that if it continues to make Nigerian airports unsafe,that an attack or act of sabotage will not occure there.

Take note of acts of terror by militia movements from the Niger Delta,and consider whether you want these loop holes in place when either you,your family or friends may be using any of these airports.

Well we pray it never comes to that,and that only over aged Nigerian registered aircraft keep falling out of the sky and killing hundreds of pax.

[Yossarian]

In fairness the original post did refer to FAAN, which as far as I am aware, is the South African prefix. I was also confused as to how he has ended up in SA naming an airport after himself. DNAA would have been a lot clearer. Just my 2 cents worth. :O

[discobeast]

Flying back from Fiji about a month ago, I went through all the security as-per-usual. I then discovered my Swiss Army Knive still in my carry-on bag, while looking for something in it, onboard the aircraft. Just kept the secret to myself. Otherwise I probably would have lost it forever... :E

[AVSEC]

SURELY NOT,I can understand your concern if you work for the Virgin group,but SURELY you canNOT have a problem with getting info which will make VK/VS safer to use by intending pax or its crew.

[surely not]

My dear old avsec, no I do not work for the Virgin group. I have no probs with VK always looking to make sure that their passengers are safe, and to that end I believe that, in conjunction with ALML, they do continue to review and adjust their policies. I would believe you had all security in Nigeria at heart if you hadn't just chosen to criticise VK. As I have mentioned before I used 7 of the Nigerian Domestic Carriers during my time in Nigeria and only one of them uses x-ray machines to screen hold baggage, and that airline uses the International terminals :ugh:

The other airlines rely on Baggage ID at the aircraft side which is ineffective in todays environment where terrorists are prepared to blow themselves up.

The fact that most of the domestic carriers do not check pax in before they go through security is not good practice. I was on a couple of flights where passengers were left standing on the Tarmac and they were very aggresive. VK checks pax in before they go through security, as is done in Europe.

I agree there is plenty of work to be done with security in all of West Africa, but the airlines can only do so much, the governments are responsible for infrastructure changes and legislation.


Errrr Yossarian, FAAN stands for Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, it is nothing to do with South Africa!

[Yossarian]

My bad!! Am from Africa, operate around Africa, but guess I forgot to memorise that one.

[AVSEC]

SURELY NOT your heart is in the right place.However you must understand that the way Nnamdi Azikiwe international airport ABV is designed,mixing domestic and international pax is in itself a breach of what is considered best practise within the aviation security fraternity,be it ICAO,IATA,DFT,TSA,or any other internationally recognised suggestion/standard/regulation.
I dont have anything against ALML,but I believe Checkport is a better company when it comes to Aviation security in terms of track record and reputation.
The 23 inadmissibles on turkish airlines recently,and the Johannesburg returns have not helped ALML's cause,but I must admit that in five years they will possibly with a lot of hard work perform much better than they do now.

[Fluffy flyer]

This are things u learn in primary school were I come from.


That’s great it's just a pity that English grammar wasn’t one of them :=

[jagunmolu]

:( I hope you are not scaring us into believing that the naija delta guys will soon go after our planes,while not ruling out that thought i think its better kept to yourself before you start sending the wrong signals in the right direction,Mr Security what are the measures your security company is putting in place or trying to sell to the Authorities to forestall such perceived henioUs crimes against the likes of us that peddle our trades up there and the general public in particular.Enough is Enough.Please if you need patronage place adverts in dailies and pay for it ,LET US FLY IN PEACE and not fear.NIGERIANS,DELTANS, ARE NOT TERRORISTS ,How many NIGERIANS have been killed in the DELTA,How many EXPATS TOO,,,,:* :( :=

[AVSEC]

Jagunmolu I in no way intended to insult or aggrieve Niger Deltans, and if I did I apologise unreservedly.
Please be aware that in electronic media and Nigerian media,it was reported that threats were made against VK and Aero by one of the militia groups in the Niger Delta,just before the bombing in PHC near the army barracks.
I do not believe any of the kidnapped expatriates to date has been killed.You are absoloutely right.

[LostAndFound]

AGAINST protests from stakeholders in the aviation sector particularly workers, over the Federal Government's bid to privatise the nation's airports, a new core investor will this morning emerge for the management of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, under the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) concession arrangement.
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank Group is the Lead Transaction Adviser to the BPE for the concession of the airports.
The bids' opening comes up at 9. am at the BPE Conference Room. Three investors short-listed had earlier in June this year undertaken a data room inspection of the airport facility from where the ill - fated ADC aircraft, which crashed shortly after take - off three weeks ago heading for Sokoto originated.
The three investors include: Airport Company of South Africa (ACSA), Airport Consortium of Vienna, which is the lead company of Nigeria International Airport Partners and Nairanet Consortium.
However, The Guardian learnt yesterday that one of the bidders had withdrawn owing to its inability to meet up with the financial deadline for the 10 per cent bid bond while another withdrew and joined forces with another to form a strong consortium which may be a lone bidder in today's transaction.
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), Malam Nasir Ahmad el-Rufai, had told the concessionaires to take full advantage of the great business opportunities offered by its facilities and location in the fast growing Federal Capital Territory and present attractive technical and financial bids.
According to him, by virtue of the FCT Act, the airport belongs to the FCT, and to support the commendable privatisation efforts of the BPE, he assured the bidders of his resolve to assist in clearing all obstacles to the concession of the airport.
The investment attractions, which the minister listed, include the airport being part of the Abuja master plan, designed as the Conference Capital of Africa and currently inhabited by 7.5 million people or five percent of the population of Nigeria. Abuja, according to El-Rufai has the highest per capital income in Nigeria.
According to the minister, the Abuja Airport is designed to have 10 terminals and is located in the middle of Nigeria, making it a convenient gateway to any part of the nation and therefore a good investment.
He promised to give the bidders necessary information including the title documents, which are vested in the FCT, adding that work is progressing fast on the environmental audit and assets register of the airport. Illegal squatters will be removed from the precinct of the airport whose large perimeter will be secured and fenced.
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) currently manages the airport with other 21airports in the country.
International airline operators flying into the airport are British Airways, KLM Dutch airlines and Lufthansa German airline. The Abuja Airport is the fourth biggest income earner for FAAN after those in Lagos, Port Harcourt and Kano.



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http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/news/article06

[LostAndFound]

A NEW private operator to manage the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, for 25 years has emerged.

The core investor, Abuja Gateway Consortium (AGC), which emerged yesterday, offered N12.73 billion for the facility under a concession deal packaged by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE). With the arrangement, the management of the airport will in the next three months change hands from the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to the AGC.

AGC will make an upfront payment of $10 million before it takes over the airport.
The group was the lone bidder for the airport as the other two contenders were unable to meet up with the payment schedule.
At the expiration of the concession, the ownership of the airport will revert to the Federal Government. The $101.1 million is to be paid as revenue during the leased period.
The new core investor will remit a yearly gross revenue of 18 .1 per cent to the government. The amount ranges from $5.53 million in the first five years of operation; $10.33 million to $17.36 million in 15 years and $40 million in the last year of the concession.
Both the BPE and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank Group, which acted as the financial adviser, described the offer as acceptable.
The BPE Director-General, Mrs. Irene Chigbue, told reporters that the offer was above the reserved price while the IFC team leader, Mr. Brian Samuel, said his position was based on the worth of the airport and the quantum of investment the core investor was ready to stake for the upgrade of its facilities.
Mr. Richard Akerele, the Chief Executive Officer of Airline Services Ltd., a representative of the consortium at the bid opening, said the business development plan for the airport involved $371 million for the development of the airport throughout the period of the concession.
The sum of $50 million of the amount will be deplored in the first five years in the development of airport hotel; of private car park; shopping malls and bonded warehouse.
Akerele said that the long-term development plan would make the Abuja Airport the hub of West Africa. He also hinted of a plan to develop a one-roof terminal to abrogate the dichotomy between the international terminal from the local to make it convenient for international travellers to land and board aircraft without the facility hassles of landing and looking for airport transportation to another terminal.
The concessionaires are Gitto Construzioni Generali Nigeria Limited, an Italian firm based in Abuja. It has the largest equity of 49.5 per cent; Net Technologies Limited , a Nigerian company registered in 2003 which specialises in the provision of Information Technology (IT) solutions, property development and various infrastructure turnkey projects has a 20 percentage holding in the group.
Also in the group are Airline Services Limited, another Nigerian firm said to be the premier provider of catering and hospitality services to the aviation industry; British Airways; South African Airways; Lufthansa German Airlines; KLM Royal Dutch; Air France; and Virgin Nigeria.
Another company in the group is A.G. Ferrero, a Nigerian construction company based in Kaduna. It has a 10 per cent share in the group while Airport Consulting Vienna GmbH will serve as the technical partner. The Airports Authority of India will act as the airport operator for the consortium. It has no equity holding.
Chigbue said that the Federal Government embarked on airports concessions against protest by industry operators because the International Monetary Fund (IMF) would use the sector's privatisation benchmark for Nigeria's assessment in its next Policy Support Instrument (PSI) framework.
She maintained that other airports would equally be concessioned.
The BPE boss disclosed that three investors had begun due diligence on the Kaduna Refinery preparatory to the company's privatization before the end of 2006. She gave the investors as Chima National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) which has right of first refusal; Essan Infrastructure Ltd and Petroleum India Investment.

http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/news/article07

[UN-Coordinated]

How many passengers pass thru ABV annually ? International & Domestic ?

[reptile]

That’s great it's just a pity that English grammar wasn’t one of them :=


dynamicd: Take no notice of FF's post - since it looks like punctuation was not taught at his school.

FF: Always make sure your six is clear before you attack.

[I.R.PIRATE]

My question would be : If this man that anyone outside of Nigeria is unaware of was such a massive hero and leader > why is the country in the state it is now? Any decent leader should leave a legacy of things that made him appear so great behind for future generations; and these things would be??
A leader's legacy needs to last for more than his self designated (in africa) period of rule. N'est pas?

[Rani]

Don't know much about Sir Azikiwe, but yes he was Nigeria's first prime minister. So of course, I had to refer to mama WIKIPEDIA:
Dr. Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe (1904-1996), usually referred to as Nnamdi Azikiwe, or, informally and popularly, as "Zik", was the founder of modern Nigerian Nationalism and the first President of Nigeria. Born November 16, 1904 in Zungeru, northern Nigeria to Igbo parents from the eastern part of the country. He died on May 11, 1996 at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu, after a protracted sickness.
Early in his academic career, Azikiwe attended Storer College, Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, but later enrolled and graduated from Lincoln University (Pennsylvania) in 1930, where he became a member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc. Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe had a stint as an instructor at Lincoln before returning to Africa, first to Accra in Ghana where he became the founding editor of The West African Pilot. He later returned to Nigeria to found the Zik Group of Newspapers publishing different titles with different editors and editorial teams in different cities across the country. Some of the renowned post-independent journalists in Nigeria got their training from working with Zik whose newspapers were generally anti-colonialism.
More enlightenment: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azikiwe

[Flying Touareg]

My question would be : If this man that anyone outside of Nigeria is unaware of was such a massive hero and leader > why is the country in the state it is now? Any decent leader should leave a legacy of things that made him appear so great behind for future generations; and these things would be??
A leader's legacy needs to last for more than his self designated (in africa) period of rule. N'est pas?

I. R Pirate i will request that you delete your post. Late Nnamdi Azikwe is a reverred person in Nigeria .Apart from that he was incorruptible, humble ,and was at the forefront of securing our independence from people like you.
Point of correction again: the late Nigerian first President was a VERY DECENT MAN.
As you rightly said you are unaware of this massive hero.Please lets leave it at that.
Thanks.

[reptile]

...... of securing our independence from people like you.

Aaaaah.............another racist. Not what I expected from you FT - but then I've learned that it's ok (in Africa) to be black and racist. God forbid a white man make a remark like that.

Get a grip gents! This is an aviation forum. If you want to vent your racial frustrations on the net, may I suggest you start a blog.

[LongJohnThomas]

I must say at this ponit that i have read with diligence all your posts here and find you all are losing the plot!
Avsec and Sn, i think you guys should give it a rest boys!?????
As for reptile, i'm sure if the case were reversed, you'd feel an inclination to the comments made by FT.
Thats all besides the point, i think we should stick to trying to make the industry better for us all and leave the petty blabbing to others, we are supposed to be professional here, or at least thats what i thought.
Spelling errors will consistently be made on this forum by people, black or white; it all balls down to how savvy you are with the use of your key board.
Having said this, i think it is note-worthy that we all should guard our utterances and be mindful that we are different; in up-bringing,education, tradition and family values. These all make up what we are and we must learn to be tolerant for there ever to be peace amongst us.
I feel like a 'sissy' saying this, but, it's become absolutely neccessary to say this!
Take it easy guys, no need to work a sweat over one another, our ramblings here don't seem to change much!

[surely not]

LJT I am shocked!!!!!!!!! You have a soft centre to your heart ;) :p

I agree that negativity never serves a good purpose, but neither does standing by and watching a person who patently has only the slightest knowledge of an airlines operation consistently rubbish it with inaccuracies.

I respect the differences you and I have had in the past, at least we were both coming from reasonably experienced and well informed areas of the industry.

Maybe I will be fortunate enough to return to Nigeria to work in the future, but for now I am exiled to a sandpit to make a living.