MMIA conveyor belts: International travellers groan

As international air travellers groan over the state of conveyor belts at the Murtala Muhammed International, Ikeja, Lagos State, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria has appealed for calm.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that passengers at the airport had complained of flight delays due to the poor state of conveyor belts at the airport.
They had appealed to the airport authorities to address the problem quickly to reduce their pains at the international gateway.
One of the travellers, who sought anonymity, had told NAN on phone that his flight out of the airport had over an hour delay on Wednesday night, causing him to miss a connecting flight he was supposed to board to his final destination in Europe.
The General Manager of Corporate Affairs of FAAN, Yakubu Dati, reacting to the complaints on Thursday, said the airport authorities were taking steps to address the problem.
Dati appealed for calm.
Dati said FAAN was working round the clock, especially as directed by the Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, towards ensuring that travellers had hitch free experiences at the country’s airports.
He said: “The conveyor belts are things that have do with mechanical issues, so we have a routine of servicing and changing.
“But sometimes, once in a while, you find that the machines might break down or the conveyor belts will develop fault.
“Our engineers are working round the clock to eliminate that.”
Dati noted that some passengers were always travelling with heavy luggage, which was affecting the functionality of the conveyor belts.
He said: “Heavy luggage is supposed to be cargo and cargo luggage is not placed on conveyor belts.
“So our situation is a bit peculiar here because most of the passengers travel heavy and you end up having the conveyor belts operating above their capacities.
“If that happens, they are bound to develop problems earlier than when we envisaged.”
According to Dati, FAAN had to review its routine check of changing the conveyor belts because of the weight of the luggage that they carry, which normally is not the case in other climes.
He, therefore, urged travellers and other airport users to remain calm, adding that the situation was under control.
NAN.