Experts: Airport Runway Rehabilitation Necessary to Curb Major Incidents During Flooding
Chinedu Eze
Aviation industry stakeholders have called for urgent rehabilitation of some of the airport runways in the country to mitigate the frequent runway excursion incidents that happen every rainy season.
They warned that if the incidents were allowed to persist, they may lead to tragic accident, and called for urgent intervention.
In the last five years, flights have recorded major incidents at the airports in Ibadan, Port Harcourt, Lagos, Abuja and the recent major incident involving Enugu Air flight at the Benin airport.
Last year, during the international conference organised by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), the agency’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Mrs. Olubunmi Kuku, confirmed that over 17 airport runways across Nigeria had exceeded their 20 to 25-year design lifespan and required urgent rehabilitation.
She noted that many runways were built about 30 to 35 years ago and have dilapidated under aircraft traffic, thus requiring complete reconstruction rather than temporary fixes.
Such rehabilitation, she stated, needed about N580 billion comprehensive capital plan, which had been detailed by the federal government for these upgrades.
The rehabilitation would need comprehensive overhaul that would cover runway reconstructions, taxiway modernisations, airfield lighting upgrades and perimeter fencing, in-roads and apron expansions.
Kuku rehabilitated the international runway of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos immediately she took over as the managing director of the agency and reopened it in 2024.
Few days ago, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, announced the allocation of N46 billion for the reconstruction of primary and secondary runways at the Mallam Aminu International Airport, Kano.
THISDAY learnt that runways in Port Harcourt, the domestic runway of the Lagos airport, the runway at the Benin Airport, needed to be rehabilitated to end the incident of runway excursion due to aquaplaning.
Few years ago, two private jets on charter service over short the runway at the Ibadan airport within an interlude of one month, prompting the state government in collaboration with FAAN, to rebuild the airport’s critical facilities, including the rehabilitation of the runway.
Logistics management specialist and former General Manager, Business Development, FAAN, Nuhu Adam, told THISDAY that the managing director of FAAN was right in confirming that some of the runways have become obsolete in terms of design life because they were not built for today’s traffic volume and climate intensity.
Adam, however, noted that heavy rains don’t necessary break the runway, “but they expose poor drainage, friction loss from rubber deposits, and old electrical systems.”
According to him, “Most of runways have been in existence for more than 30 years without any major repair. Their lifespan is mostly 25 years at most 30 with regular maintenance.”
The good news is that FAAN has moved from patching the runway to full rehabilitation and is treating safety-critical airside assets as priority, he further said.
“Even though the recently rehabilitated runway at the Enugu airport is already bad and needs comprehensive rehabilitation, Port Harcourt was rehabilitated in 2018. Benin 2015. Abuja 2017. But they still need work again. Statistics is fundamentally about numbers, patterns, and consequences. The earlier we understand this, the better prepared we should be,” Adam added.
He stressed that the pattern of occurrence of airport incursions/excursions has entered a cycle of recurring aviation shocks, which trigger safety concerns, flight disruption and supply chain disruptions.
“This is akin to same patterns of occurrence in resulting to fatal crashes at Abuja, Lagos and Port Harcourt airports which was partly attributed to the absence of Low – level Wind Shear Alert System amongst other infrastructure deficiencies at the time,” he recalled.
According to Adam, when there is persistent incident like this, it may lead to more serious situation the country may not be prepared for, noting that in the case of the low-level wind shear, which accident reports indicated, contributed to the Sosoliso Airlines Flight 1145 crash on December 10, 2005 at the Port Harcourt airport and the ADC Flight 053 on 29 October, 2006, immediately after take-off from Abuja airport. He said the World Bank intervened and addressed the situation by helping to procure and install Doppler Weather Radar
“The World Bank stepped in to address this issue through the World Bank assisted West and Central African Security and Safety Programme. The emerging pattern runway excursion should be of concern and addressed before we record worst cases,” Adam added.
THISDAY learnt that some of the airports where the runway went through series of rehabilitation in the past but broke down only to be rehabilitated again, had to do with the alleged lack of commitment by past ministers who negotiate for low quality jobs at lower cost than to have comprehensive rebuilding of the facility.
A good example is the Enugu airport runway, which tends to break down less than two years after its repairs.
A retired engineer in FAAN told THISDAY that the underground of the runway and the location of the whole airport is a geological layer that traps water above a coal deposit, insisting that water is below the surface.
He described it as an aquifer resting on top of an impermeable or low-permeability layer like clay, shale, or the coal seam itself acting as an aquitard. So, building a runway that will last demands a more quality job than has always been done, he said.
“It means going below the trapped aquifer with layers of compacted subgrade, crushed aggregate, and a durable surface of asphalt or concrete, but this demands more than double the money they have been using to repair the runway,” the engineer, who supervised some of the runway rehabilitation work at the airport, the FAAN engineer said.
Industry analyst, Lanre Bamgbose, told THISDAY that runway remained a very critical infrastructure that needed to be prepared for the rains before the rainy season comes, so that it would be resilient against flooding, which is inevitable at the peak of the rains.
“Runway rehabilitation is fundamentally an investment in safety and operational resilience. As heavy rainfall becomes more frequent, the risk of aquaplaning increases because standing water on runways can reduce an aircraft’s braking efficiency and directional control during landing and take-off.
“From a stakeholder and perhaps say operator’s perspective, safe runways inspire confidence. They reduce operational disruptions, protect valuable aviation assets, lower maintenance costs, and make airports more attractive to airlines and investors. Every successful flight begins and ends on the runway, so maintaining its integrity is essential to the entire aviation ecosystem,” Bamgbose said.
He also remarked that rather than treating runway repairs as occasional maintenance, “we should view them as a continuous strategic investment. Modern runways with improved drainage and surface friction not only mitigate the effects of flooding but also strengthen the reliability, competitiveness, and long-term sustainability of our aviation sector.”