By David Torough, Abuja

The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo disclosed yesterday that Nigeria’s airports were below international standards, while hinting at the expansion of Old Murtala Muhammed International Airport.Keyamo admitted while quoting a commendation tweet by a Nigerian in diaspora, Dipo Awojide with the username @ogbenidipo, who hailed the improved passenger experience and recent improvements at the MMIA in Lagos.

The UK-based Nigerian tweeted that his recent experience at the airport is the easiest it has been for him in 15 years, while acknowledging the visible improvement. “Kudos @fkeyamo, Lagos airport has changed for good.“Aircraft to the welcome area looks cleaner and the security area is well designed. My bag came out in 10 minutes.“Exit to the parking area is way better. I say this as someone who has been travelling for over 15 years.“This is the easiest it has been for me in Lagos,” the tweet partly reads.Awojide highlighted that there are some cultural issues to tackle, but acknowledged the significant improvement by the federal government,” the tweet reads.Reacting to the extolling post, the minister appreciated the X user for his impressive feedback but stressed that airports in the country are below global standards.“Thank you, @OgbeniDipo for your compliments. But our airports are still far away from global standards, I must admit. We are just making the best of the situation as we found it,” he said.Keyamo noted that the situation is being managed, but barely, and revealed that the old MMIA terminal, built in 1977 for 200,000 passengers annually, now handles three million passengers at the airport and 15 million nationwide each year, putting immense strain on the facilities.He reassured Nigerians that major upgrades are forthcoming under President Bola Tinubu’s administration.The minister specified that a total rebuilding of the Old MMIA in Lagos will be facilitated to meet modern standards and accommodate approximately 20 million passengers annually.“Hence, over the years, the facilities almost collapsed! But thanks to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, @officialABAT, we are about to embark on a total rebuilding of the old MMI Airport in Lagos to meet modern standards, with a projection of about 20 million passengers per annum.“We will unveil the full details before Nigerians in the next few weeks. Thanks.” Keyamo concluded. Air Peace Aircraft Collides with Antelope on Abuja RunwayAn Air Peace aircraft was grounded at the Asaba International Airport in Delta State after it collided with a large antelope while taxiing on the runway.The impact decimated the animal and rendered the aircraft on the ground, causing flight disruptions.Director of Public Affairs & Consumer Protection at the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, Michael Achimugu, who confirmed the incident on Sunday, via his official X account, clarified the implications of such occurrences.According to him, “Monitoring reports yesterday indicated that an Air Peace aircraft ran into a large antelope, decimating the animal and leaving the aircraft AOG (aircraft on ground).”He added that as a result of this incident, flights meant to be operated by this aircraft would naturally be disrupted, even though engineers are on the ground to assess and fix the plane. Passengers waiting would naturally be infuriated.“Incidents like this are literal illustrations of the disruptions NOT caused by the airlines (domestic or international),” he said.Achimugu emphasised that while such events are beyond the control of the airline, they do not absolve operators from their responsibilities to passengers.“This explainer is for illustration purposes, not to excuse airlines when they fail to do their duties to passengers,” he said.“Even with situations like this, the airline still owes its passengers the information, refund, and other forms of care they are entitled to, and can still be sanctioned if they fail to provide the same,” Achimugu added.The agency also noted that efforts are currently underway to repair the aircraft and resume normal operations.