As the management of Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL), operators of the Murtala Muhammed Airport Two (MMA2), Lagos, prepares for the second phase of its media tours in the new year, the highly successful first phase carried out recently have continued to generate interests, especially, among aviation industry stakeholders.
While the recent tours afforded BASL the opportunity to lay bare in public space what it has been doing to make MMA2 a continuously attractive destination for passengers and visitors alike, it also gave the managements of the media houses already visited the opportunity to further learn and interrogate the totality of MMA2’s existence and the magic BASL has been performing to keep the terminal running, more than 17 years after, despite the enormous challenges it faces from inception till date.
The media tour began with a visit to the League of Airport and Aviation Correspondents Secretariat. Media houses that have hosted the BASL management so far include The Guardian, The PUNCH, Vanguard, New Telegraph, The Nation, and Business Day. Additional visits are scheduled to take place in the new year.
During the visits, BASL management led by its Head of Aeronautical and Cargo Services/Acting Chief Operating Officer (COO), Mr. Remi Jibodu, spoke extensively on how the management has sustained MMA2 over the years and the various projects it is planning in the new year to increase the value of the first privately managed airport terminal in Nigeria.
Specifically, Jibodu, while responding to issues raised by the various managements of the media houses emphasized the pioneering efforts of BASL in building and managing MMA2 over the years, setting up of Equipment Management Department to keep an eye on the various ultra-modern equipment the company keeps investing billions of naira in at the terminal to meet international best standard, how the operators had acquired a digital cold room for preservation of perishable cargoes and how it also acquired enhanced surveillance system to tackle stealing by passengers and intending stowaways. The Head of Corporate Communications of BASL, Mrs. Ajoke Yinka-Olawuyi, who was on the team also spoke on how BASL is collaborating with NSIA-LUTH Cancer Center to create breast cancer awareness among the women as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), among other laudable projects.
According to Jibodu, who was also accompanied during the various visits by the Head of Aviation Security, Ms. Monica Oguta and Media Executive, Funmi Ayanwusi, with MMA2, BASL has proved that the government can collaborate with the private sector to successfully provide and manage social infrastructure.
On the Cold Storage system, he said, “it is the first of its kind in a domestic airport in Nigeria and it is acquired to address the growing need to preserve perishable cargoes that pass through the airport terminal.
“The aircraft belly cargo is subject to availability. An airline with full flight has a certain amount of cargoes it can carry. Sometimes, the airline cannot carry all the perishable cargoes and this would mean the person sending the cargoes would lose some money; this is often a problem.
“Secondly for those who want to spread their businesses to other states in Nigeria, but they are skeptical because there is no cold storage to store their products, they can now be confident that our digital cold storage would address these problems.”
He further stressed that with the cold room, MMA2 is creating opportunity for people to do their cargo business seamlessly, adding that the preservation of products, such as immunization materials, yogurts and meat, among others, would be done perfectly.
He assured that the innovation would increase the number of people that do cargo-related businesses and grow business revenue for MMA2 at the same time.
“We are very particular about innovation, excellence and efficiency. These have been our guiding principles. Having operated as a terminal for 17 years, there are so many things we have pioneered in the industry. At this time, we are advancing our vision in Nigeria,” Jibodu added.
He disclosed that MMA2 recently set up an equipment management department in a bid to address the pitfalls it has seen in the industry as regards poor infrastructure.
“We have seen the pitfall, and we do not want to get into that pitfall. One thing we can do is to ensure we are holding on to that excellence in which we are known for. Particularly, the fact is that passenger experience is core for us. Any passenger that passes through our terminal must have a fantastic experience. This cuts across our toilets, counters and every other place at the terminal.
“We are looking at the total output. For instance, when you have an aircraft that wants to depart at 7.am, what is the on-time performance of that aircraft as a result of what we have provided? This is the reason why it is very key. If the conveyor belt is working properly and every other thing, we use to facilitate the passengers are working properly, it means we would contribute to the output like the on-time performance of the airline,” he explained.
According to him, in April, last year, MMA2 recorded 62 per cent on-time performance in terms of departure of the airline. In May, it increased to 76 per cent, adding that from January till date, the average has been 74 per cent.
The ultimate target, according to him, is to achieve between 85 to 90 per cent.
“The reason why I didn’t say 100 per cent is because there are certain things we cannot control. If we have weather and tech issues, we may not be able to control that.
“We have never been out of power for more than 20 seconds. We have value-added services. The passengers have been patronizing us for the past 17 years and therefore, we can’t continue to do the same things. We had to find out the agitations and growing needs of the passengers,” he said.
The COO also explained that they have enhanced the Wi-fi system at the airport, as passengers can now access Wi-fi system around the departure hall and private departure area, which is the terminal’s premium service area.
He said the Wi-fi services was recently extended to the food court because passengers with delayed flights often go to this area of the terminal.
He explained that through the surveillance system of MMA2, the terminal has been able to stop stowaways and retrieve stolen items from the terminal and aircraft from unscrupulous individuals.
The managements of the media houses praised BASL and encouraged it to sustain its maintenance of MMA2 as a proof that Nigerians can actually run public infrastructure successfully.
Indeed, the media tours threw up some gains for both BASL and the public because they provided the opportunity for both parties to appreciate the challenges faced and the efforts being put in place to run a multi-billion facility like MMA2.
The tours continue in the new year.
