By John Ikani
Operations at Port Harcourt International Airport were halted on Thursday and Friday after the airport was downgraded from a Level 7 to a Level 6 fire risk category.
This means that large aircraft are no longer able to operate at the airport due to inadequate fire risk preparedness.
The downgrade of the airport’s fire risk category comes a few months after former minister of aviation, Hadi Sirika, acquired 10 brand new fire-fighting trucks to the tune of over N12bn and deployed them to international airports in the country.
However, it appears that these new trucks have not been enough to address the fire risk concerns at Port Harcourt International Airport.
A passenger who recently boarded a flight from Frankfurt to Port Harcourt with one stop in Abuja complained of how their flight was disrupted because there was no functional fire service at the airport.
“I boarded a flight from Frankfurt to Port Harcourt with a stopover at Abuja,” the passenger said in a direct message to independent journalist, David Hundeyin.
“Upon landing, Lufthansa informed us that they couldn’t fly to Port Harcourt today and tomorrow because there is no functional fire service or fire safety in Port Harcourt and it is below their safety standard to fly. Currently, they are lodging us in a hotel till further notice or if we get a flight, we can reschedule.”
The grounding of Port Harcourt International Airport has raised serious concerns about the effectiveness of emergency response systems at one of Nigeria’s busiest airports.
It is unclear when the airport will be able to resume operations for large aircraft.
In the meantime, passengers who are scheduled to fly to Port Harcourt are advised to check with their airlines for updates on the situation.
