Murtala Muhammed International Airport

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Coordinates: 06°34′38″N 003°19′16″E / 6.57722°N 3.32111°E / 6.57722; 3.32111

Murtala Muhammed International Airport
MMA

IATA: LOSICAO: DNMM
Summary
Airport type Public
Owner/Operator Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN)
Serves Lagos, Nigeria
Location Ikeja
Elevation AMSL 135 ft / 41 m
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
18R/36L 3,900 12,794 Asphalt
18L/36R 2,743 8,999 Asphalt
Sources: FAAN [1] and DAFIF [2][3]

Murtala Muhammed International Airport[1] (IATA: LOSICAO: DNMM) is located in Ikeja, Lagos State, Nigeria, and is the major airport serving the city of Lagos, southwestern Nigeria and the entire nation. Originally known as Lagos International Airport, it was renamed midway during construction after a former Nigerian military head of state Murtala Muhammed. The international terminal was modelled after Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. The airport opened officially on 15 March 1979.

Murtala Muhammed International Airport consists of an international and a domestic terminal, located about one kilometre from each other. Both terminals share the same runways. The domestic terminal was relocated to the old Lagos domestic terminal in 2000 after a fire. A new domestic terminal has been constructed and was commissioned on April 7 2007.

In 2008, the airport served 5,136,697 passengers.[4]

Contents

[edit] History and Reputation

During the late 1980s and 1990s, the international terminal had a reputation as a dangerous airport. From 1992 through 2000, the US Federal Aviation Administration posted warning signs in all US international airports advising travelers that security conditions at LOS did not meet ICAO minimum standards. In 1993 the FAA suspended air service between Lagos and the United States. During this period, security at LOS continued to be a serious problem.[citation needed] Travellers arriving in Lagos were harassed both inside and outside of the airport terminal by criminals. Airport staff contributed to its reputation. Immigration officers required bribes before stamping passports, while customs agents demanded payment for nonexistent fees. In addition, several jet airplanes were attacked by criminals who stopped planes taxiing to and from the terminal and robbed their cargo holds. Many travel guides suggested that Nigeria-bound travellers fly into Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport in Kano and take domestic flights or ground transportation into Lagos.

Following Olusegun Obasanjo's democratic election in 1999, the security situation at LOS began to improve. Airport police instituted a shoot on sight policy for anyone found in the secure areas around runways and taxiways, stopping further aeroplane robberies. Police secured the inside of the terminal and the arrival areas outside. The FAA ended its suspension of direct flights to Nigeria 2001 in recognition of these security improvements.[citation needed]

Recent years have seen substantial improvements at Murtala Muhammed International Airport. Malfunctioning and non-operational infrastructure such as air conditioning and luggage belts have been repaired. The entire airport has been cleaned, and many new restaurants and duty-free stores have opened. Bilateral Air Services Agreements signed between Nigeria and other countries are being revived and new ones signed. These agreements have seen the likes of Emirates, Ocean Air, Delta and China Southern Airlines express interest and receive landing rights to Nigeria's largest international airport.

The Federal Government has given approval for the expansion of the departure and arrival halls of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport to accommodate the ever increasing traffic at the airport.[citation needed]

[edit] Statistics

Statistics for Murtala Muhammed International Airport [5]
Year Total Passengers  % Increase Freight (tons) Total Aircraft Movements
2003 3,362,464 -% 51,826 62,439
2004 3,576,189 6% 89,496 67,208
2005 3,817,338 6.3% 63,807 70,893
2006 3,848,757 0.8% 83,598 74,650
2007 4,162,424[6] 7.5%
2008 5,136,697[7] 23.5%

[edit] Airlines and destinations

[edit] Terminal 1 (International)

Airlines Destinations
Aero Contractors Accra
Afriqiyah Airways Cotonou, Tripoli
Air France Paris-Charles de Gaulle
Alitalia Accra, Rome-Fiumicino
Arik Air Accra, Banjul, Cotonou, Dakar, Freetown, Johannesburg, London-Heathrow
Bellview Airlines Abidjan, Accra, Banjul, Conakry, Dakar, Douala, Freetown, Libreville, London-Heathrow, Monrovia
British Airways London-Heathrow
China Southern Airlines Beijing-Capital, Dubai
Delta Air Lines Atlanta
EgyptAir Cairo
Emirates Dubai
Ethiopian Airlines Accra, Addis Ababa
Hewa Bora Airways Douala, Kinshasa, Lomé
Iberia Airlines Madrid
Kenya Airways Nairobi
KLM Amsterdam
Lufthansa Frankfurt
Middle East Airlines Beirut
Qatar Airways Doha
Royal Air Maroc Casablanca
South African Airways Johannesburg
Turkish Airlines Istanbul-Atatürk
Virgin Atlantic London-Heathrow
Virgin Nigeria Airways Abidjan, Accra, Banjul, Cotonou, Dakar, Douala, Libreville, Monrovia

[edit] Terminal 2 (Domestic)

Airlines Destinations
Aero Contractors (Nigeria) Abuja, Benin City, Calabar, Enugu, Owerri, Port Harcourt, Warri
Afrijet Airlines Abuja, Yola
Bellview Airlines Abuja, Kano, Port Harcourt
Capital Airlines (Nigeria) Abuja, Ilorin, Minna
Chanchangi Airlines Abuja, Kaduna, Owerri, Port Harcourt
Dana Air Abuja, Enugu
IRS Airlines Abuja, Kano, Maiduguri, Yola
Virgin Nigeria Abuja, Calabar, Kano, Owerri, Port Harcourt, Sokoto

[edit] General Aviation Terminal (Domestic)

Airlines Destinations
Arik Air Abuja, Akure, Benin City, Calabar, Enugu, Gombe, Jos, Kaduna, Kano, Maiduguri, Owerri, Port Harcourt, Sokoto, Warri, Yola
Associated Aviation Benin City, Ibadan
Overland Airways Ilorin

[edit] Cargo airlines

Airlines Destinations
Air France Cargo Ndjamena, Paris-Charles de Gaulle
Allied Air Ostend
Avient Aviation Abidjan, Bamako, Châlons-en-Champagne, Libreville, Malabo, Ouagadougou, Pointe-Noire, Port Harcourt, Sharjah
Cargolux Luxembourg
Jade Cargo Sharjah
Star Airlines (Macedonia) Skopje, Bishkek, Sharjah, Hong Kong

[edit] Accidents and incidents

  • November 23, 1996: Hijackers forced Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961, bound from Mumbai and Addis Ababa to Abidjan through many stops (including Lagos), to crash into the Indian Ocean.
  • January 30, 2000: Kenya Airways Flight 431 was originally intended to fly from Nairobi to Lagos to Abidjan, but the flight diverted to Abidjan. The aircraft hit the water after takeoff to Lagos.
  • October 22, 2005: Bellview Airlines Flight 210, bound for Abuja, crashed after takeoff, killing everyone on board.
  • November 28, 2003: Lagos control cleared Hydro Air 501, a 747-200 from Brussels Airport for a landing at Runway 19R. The aircraft ended up hitting a stack of asphalt, then slewed left with its first engine in contact with the surface until the nose wheel came to rest in a drainage ditch. The Ministry of Aviation report concluded that the cause of the accident was that the aircraft was cleared to land on a runway that was “supposed” to have been closed.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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