Nahimah Ajikanle Nurudeen
9 October 2008
Lagos — As part of the efforts geared towards making the 21 airports under its control viable and worth international standard, the management of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has concluded plans to explore aeronautical facilities and economic services of the Airport Council International (ACI).
The Managing Director of FAAN, Mr. Richard Aisuebeogun, who led a four-man management team to the recently concluded 18th ACI World Annual General Assembly, Conference and Exhibition in Boston, Massachusetts, United Stats, said on Monday in Lagos that the Authority is working to ensure that it benefited from the ACI Fund for Developing Nations and the council's training programmes.
The ACI Fund for Developing Nations was built on the generosity of airport operators worldwide to open door to professional development for airport managers from developing nations.
The provisions also include training, seminars, scholarship, free advisory missions, airport equipment donations and advisory assistance in processing funding request to the World Bank.
Aisuebeogun, who is also a member of the Board, ACI Africa, was co-opted into the ACI Fund for Developing Nations' Committee, which is responsible for facilitating infrastructural and human capacity development of airports in developing countries.
"With this position, we shall use our membership to go into Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that would attract investments from some developed economies to Nigeria", he said.
He also met with the Business Development Manager of Miami International Airport, Mr. Miguel Southwell in Florida with a view to reactivating the existing MOU between that airport and FAAN.
FAAN boss said all of these efforts were in the bid to get infrastructural and technical support for airport development in Nigeria.
Aisuebeogun said that the resort to ACI's assistance became necessary as FAAN is currently maximizing its profits, exploring all avenues, including the non-aeronautical, towards turning around airport facilities in the country and jerking up the revenue profile of the Authority.
"Because of our strong belief in ACI and the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), we are sponsoring our airport managers on ACI's programmes," he added.
He noted that the moves were in consonance with the Federal Government's policy of Public Private Partnership (PPP).
He assured that his administration would meet all evolving challenges in airport management and those of rising aircraft and passenger traffic.
The World Traffic Report for 2007 released in July 2008 showed 4.8 billion passengers on record, a seven per cent increase over the 2006 figure; 88.5 million tones cargo; and 76 million aircraft movements. About 80 per cent of airports worldwide recorded positive passenger growth in 2007. It represented 87 per cent of passenger traffic.
Airports Council International is the association of the world's airports. It is a nonprofit organization, whose prime purpose is to advance the interests of airports and to promote professional excellence in airport management and operations.
By fostering cooperation amongst airports, world aviation organizations and business partners, ACI makes a significant contribution to providing the travelling public with an air transport system that is safe, secure, efficient and environmentally responsible.
As the international association of the worlds' commercial service airports, ACI stand for the collective positions of its membership, which are established through committees and endorsed by the ACI Governing Board.
These views reflect the common interests of the global airport community.
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