Lagos Air Traffic
Air Traffic can be a very serious issue, especially in major commercial cities like Lagos where air transport is a major source of transport of people and resources.
Air Traffic involves everything from flight takeoffs, in progress and landings. Air Traffic regulators regulate all kinds of flight, passenger, military, cargo and even commercial, preventing any form of accidents that may occur between aircrafts.
In most cases, airports tend to be too small to support the air traffic they receive, leading to air traffic congestion after a few years. This would then call for an expansion of the airport. This expansion will cause an increase in the income finance of the airports as more space equals more aircraft and more travelers.
Murtala Muhammed Airport.
The airport is located in Ikeja and was once known as Lagos Airport. Built during the second World War, Murtala Muhammed Airport had a name change following the death of former military General Murtala Muhammed in 1976. Since then, this airport has thrived immensely and has served as a major source of income for the state and the country at large.
Murtala Muhammed Airport has a land area of about 3000 square Kilometer and sees an influx of more than 5 million people (foreigners and locals) requesting flight services both locally and internationally annually.
From these stats, it can be seen that Murtala Muhammed Airport really serves an important role. However this cannot be emphasized enough. As the only airport in Lagos and the most sought after airport in Nigeria, this airport ensures chances for trade and exchange of materials between Nigeria and other countries, transport of tourists too is another major benefit of this airport.
Expansion
Since it was first built during the second World War, Murtala Muhammed Airport experienced massive development and success as civilian requests for flight services both for trade and travel increased considerably. Eventually the requests got way too big for the airport, thereby increasing air traffic by a considerable amount.
Upon noticing the rapid increase in air traffic, expansion plans were made and put in progress and by 2014, the Murtala Muhammed Airport had seen major changes.
The expansion saw the addition and improvement of airport equipments such as parking facilities, lounges, conveyor belts, increased security equipments, infrastructure like diners and increased terminal services to improve passenger experience and provide them with more space, at the same time attracting even more people.
During the expansion, Murtala Muhammed Airport saw a decrease in incoming requests for flight services, however, a few years later when the expansion was done, there was a huge spike in incoming flight requests and income gained from air transport services saw a huge increase.
Right now, the airport can sustain the traffic coming in, but for how long? Requests for flight services keep increasing annually and very soon, there might be need for another round of expansion.
Expansion Impact
Individuals
The expansion of the Murtala Muhammed Airport saw an increase in space in the airport, this led to a higher influx of people requesting air transport services without straining the air traffic.
As space and airport facilities increased, there was a need for more hands on deck and employment opportunities were opened to the public. There were more job opportunities available to people who took over these spots and gained a source of employment to sustain themselves and their family.
There was also an increase in tourism as more tourists from within and outside Africa saw an avenue to visit the country via this airport.
Society
As the expansion of the airport required a large amount of space, land was used for this project and this space can never be recovered again.
However revenue from the airport has also been used by the government for the development of the region as a nice face is required for bringing out the full use of the airport. After all, an airport in an underdeveloped environment won’t really attract people to use its services.
Lagos and Nigeria
With the expansion of Murtala Muhammed Airport, revenue and income generated became far larger than what it was initially. This revenue was gotten from many sources including transportation, commerce, tourism and even business (transfer of goods and services). The government got funds which they used for development of other sectors in Lagos and Nigeria at large.
Popularity of the airport also increased, leading to increased popularity of Lagos and of Nigeria as this airport got connected to many international terminals.
Issues and Concerns with Expansion
With the expansions of Murtala Muhammed Airport, there would definitely be an increase in the amount of aircrafts found in the airport. This is both a good thing and a bad thing as increased number of aircrafts leads to increase fulfillment of air services requests but also leads to increase of dangerous gases released into the environment. These gases are released when these aircrafts burn fuel required for the their movement. This eventually leads to pollution of the air and the environment.
Another concern with expansion is the amount of land that is required. To expand the airport, a large area of land is usually required. While the first expansion is done and completed, if there is ever a need for a new expansion due to increased air traffic, a large land area will be required and surrounding areas may need to be cleared to support the expansion.
One more concern with expansion is the finance required. As the amount of people requiring air services increases and expansion requests are put in again, a steady source of income will be needed and one way which this income will be generated is by cutting short the finance flowing into other projects and focusing them into completing the expansion.
Conclusion
Book your flight requests and travel round the world with this airport as your starting point. Or you can simply visit the airport to enjoy the view, grab a bite or two and take a look at the hustle associated with air travels
