The Federal Government on Monday installed mobile airfield lighting at the domestic wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

The development came after five years of flight restriction to daylight operations on the runway of the domestic wing.

The emergency airfield lights were deployed on the 2.7km Runway 18 Left of the airport.

Absence of the airfield lighting on the runway had forced the domestic airlines to land after sunset at the international wing, thereby burning extra fuel to taxi down to their various terminals before disembarking passengers.

A statement by the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency said the development was made possible by the full cooperation of the Federal Government in ensuring speedy Customs clearance.

The statement by the General Manager, Public Affairs, NAMA, Mr. Supo Atobatele, said, "In all , 66 CALKIT brand of emergency airfield and additional two approach lights were deployed by six NAMA engineers working through Monday night and rounded off early Tuesday morning."

According to the agency, CALKIT airfield lighting equipment has been certified by International Civil Aviation Organisation, Federal Aviation Administration, and the United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority.

"The facility, called Combined Omni-directional Runway Edge Light, Light Emitting Diode, is a portable lighting system with end lights," it added.

The equipment was installed by the General Manager, Airfield Lighting, Mr. Taiwo Makinwa; Mr. Muyiwa Adegorite, Mr. Charles Iroro, Mr. Anjorin Alaba, Mr. Atiku Abubakar and Mr. E. Amechi.

The Managing Director, NAMA, Mr. Nnamdi Udoh, lauded the commitment of the engineers for the immediate deployment of navigational facility on the runway.

"We are indeed grateful to the Federal Government, especially the Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah, who took the initiative to transfer this safety critical operation to NAMA earlier in the year and withstood all pressure to sustain the successes recorded in the industry.

"With this latest achievement, we can proudly say travellers should expect more deployment of modern equipment to drive our vision of quality delivery at airports across the country in the new year," he added.

Source:http://odili.net/news/source/2012/dec/26/804.html

How many Atiku Abubakar's do we have in Nigeria?