The fact that the facilities at the Sam Mbakwe Cargo Airport, Owerri, Imo State, are inadequate to handle the increased volume in traffic occasioned by the temporary closure of the Port Harcourt International Airport (PHIA) for rehabilitation works is a sad commentary on and an insult to the avowed reforms in the nation�s aviation industry.
It is regrettable that the airport which presently handles, on the average, between 20 and 30 flights daily, cannot accommodate night flights in view of the fact that it has no airfield lighting facility. It is also embarrassing that the airport has no conveyor belts which are used to convey passengers� luggage from the loading bay to the arrival hall. These dangerous signals to air safety should be addressed forthwith to avert avoidable air mishaps.
At inception, the medium-sized airport formerly known as Imo Airport was the initiative of the then government and people of Imo State to provide for themselves through self-effort, a befitting airport that would facilitate air travel in the state. It has symbolised the self-help spirit of the Igbo people who solely built it and handed it over to the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to operate.
But, in spite of its history, the airport has suffered culpable negligence from successive governments and FAAN�s management to the extent that it lacks some of the basic facilities required for its present operational status and roles. In fact, the larger picture painted of the airport by mischief-makers was that it was unsafe. Consequently, many airlines shunned the airport.
But the present situation in Port Harcourt has brought about a reversal of that. At least it is now evident that the airport can be used. What is needed is to bring its facilities to acceptable standards.
The situation reports and the grim picture painted of the airport should be worrisome to the Federal Government and the authorities of FAAN that have for long not deemed it right to squarely address the inadequacies and shortcomings of the airport taking into consideration the fact that such negligence had, in the past, led to great loss in human and material resources.
And now that the airport is relieving the Port Harcourt Airport, we believe that the time is ripe for the upgrading of its facilities to conform to its present roles. The airport should not be allowed to return to its comatose status at the reopening of the one in Port Harcourt. We also do not need to be unduly prompted by the visit of the International Civil Aviation Organisation�s (ICAO) panel before we can rise to the challenge of upgrading our airports.
Let the government not see this facility as being only suitable for relief operations alone. It should also be made fit to perform its usual roles. It is an indisputable fact that its present status has thrown even greater challenges to the Federal Government to provide the needed facilities that will enable it cope with the volume of air, cargo and human traffic.
The situation we have on our hands now offers good opportunity for the government to address the inherent inadequacies and equip it with modern facilities that befit an international airport. In that wise, the airport should be made to have all the minimum requirements for air navigation safety that will bring it to generally acceptable standards in the aviation industry.