Bi-Courtney seeks regulatory approval to begin regional operations
By Adekunle Williams
Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Ltd. (BASL) has urged the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to grant the Murtala Muhammad Airport Two (MMA2) the regulatory approval to begin regional operations in the terminal.
The Chairman of BASL, Dr Wale Babalakin, made the appeal shortly after inaugurating ‘The Art Experience’ (Art Gallery) in MMA2 to celebrate its 16 years anniversary in Lagos on Tuesday.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that in May 2007, BASL completed and opened the MMA2 facility under the Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) agreement with the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).
The Ministerial Committee on Airport Security in 2016 had certified the Murtala Muhammed Airport Two, fit for the commencement of regional operations.
Babalakin, however, decried the delay in starting regional operations from the Murtala Muhammed Airport Two (MMA2), Lagos, years after the terminal was granted approval by the government.
He said: ‘I am alarmed that we have not commenced regional operations because we went through the entire process, we were certified, but we have not been allowed to take off.
“I am shocked because the MMA2 terminal was built to provide services for both regional and domestic passengers but it is presently underutilised.
“We had already spent several billions of naira to acquire the state-of-the-art facilities in preparation for regional flight operations, but the inconsistency in government policy despite the approval, had prevented it from using the facilities.”
Bi-Courtney boss who said that the terminal remained a world class and the best in the country, explained that the best architects were engaged to design the terminal that would stand the test of time.
Babalakin noted it was a deliberate effort to design an outstanding world-class terminal that could stand the test of time.
He said, “From when passengers come off the escalator, it is a seamless process till they board the plane.”
According to him, “We didn’t just start building, we sat down with the best of architects in the world to design a terminal that will have a flow, it is the flow that has made it easy for people to operate here.
“You can see the link between the car park and the terminal, so you are not going through a disjointed journey because you want to travel.
“We think that it is backward to have passengers walking on the terminals because it is dangerous, it only takes one accident and the county will be embarrassed.”
Babalakin said with the newly commissioned art gallery centre, BASL planned to continue to raise the standard of the terminal and offer travellers an experience that was beyond just traveling.
He said what Bi-Courtney did was to uplift the terminal standards with the hope that anybody who decided to build a terminal in the future would have all these standards incorporated into their terminals.(NAN)
Edited by Idris Abdulrahman
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