Air Peace has commended the Federal Government for upgrading the navigational facilities at the Benin Airport.
It said this would help airlines and aircraft owners to perform flights at night and periods when there would be low visibility.
Chris Iwarah, the Corporate Communications Manager of the airline, gave the commendation in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Monday in Lagos.
NAN reports that the newly installed Precision Approach Lighting System and Instrument Landing System Category II at the airport were inaugurated by the Minister of State for Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, on May 18.
Iwarah said it was a welcome development and Benin would join the Lagos, Port Harcourt, Abuja and Kano airports, where airlines could operate into and from at night in the country.
He said: “Before now, you could fly into four airports late and this had created a lot of implications for both the airlines and passengers.
“If there is any disruption or delay into those airports that are called ‘sunset airports’ that you can’t fly into once it is 6:30pm, it is always a huge problem because the passengers will be angry and agitated.
“But once the airport can operate at any time, the passengers may be angry but they will get to their destinations though it may be late.”
He said the upgrading of the facilities at Benin Airport would help to reduce the visibility challenges usually faced in the past by airline operators.
Iwarah said: “Before now, if there was any visibility challenge, we would just cancel the flights that were supposed to fly.
“But now, we can decide to wait and observe the weather to see if there is an improvement.”
Iwarah added that it would also give airlines the opportunities to properly utilise their aircraft to about 15 hours daily instead of parking them on ground due to the early closure of the airport.
He said: “It is a good step in the right direction.
“It is a win-win situation and we want to thank the Federal Government for thinking in this direction and we hope that the operations will be sustained.”
NAN.
