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Lagos Nigeria Airport

Lagos Nigeria Airport known officially as the Murtala Muhammed International Airport and code named by IATA as LOS and ICAO as DNMM is located in Ikeja, Lagos State, Nigeria, and it is the major airport in Nigeria serving the south western part and sometimes the whole country totaling over 5,136,697 passengers annually.

Lagos Nigeria airport is modeled after Amsterdam’s schipol Airport and was constructed by the military regimes of Generals Murtala Muhammed (whom the airport was named after following his assassination on February 13, 1976) and Olusegun Obasanjo (1976-1979). It was officially opened on March 15, 1979.

Management

Being a public serving airport, it is managed by the Federal Government of Nigeria through its agency Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).

Prior to 2001 specifically between 1992 and 2000, the airport was poorly managed with its international terminal known for its many security flaws and corruption.

This consequently led to the airport being blacklisted by major international airlines until the administration of Olusegun Obasanjo instituted a shoot on sight order at armed bandits seen operating within the airport and a ban imposed on all illegal use of airport facilities by any individual or group. By 2002, the airport had become safe and well managed.

lagos nigeria airport

Previous Problems

In the 1980s and 1990s, the international terminal enjoyed notoriety for dangerous activities including airplane robberies, traveler harassment both within and outside the airport terminals as by criminals as well as corruption by airport staff and immigration officials who demanded bribes from travelers.

Customs officials were also known for issuing illegal or non-existent fees. These prompted Organisations like the US Federal Aviation Administration to post travel warnings at all US international airports about the security conditions at Lagos Nigeria airport was falling below ICAO minimum standards.

Air services were suspended in 1993 between Lagos and the United States as a result of perceived safety and security concerns. Many travel guides suggested that Nigeria-bound travelers fly into Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport in Kano and take domestic flights or ground transportation into Lagos.

Following Olusegun Obasanjo's democratic election in 1999, the security situation at LOS began to improve. Airport police instituted a shoot on sight policy for anyone found in the secure areas around runways and taxiways, stopping further aircraft robberies.

Police secured the inside of the terminal and the arrival areas outside. The FAA ended its suspension of direct flights to Nigeria 2001 in recognition of these security improvements.

Structural Improvements since 2002

Murtala Muhammed International Airport consists of an international and a domestic terminal, located about one kilometre from each other. Both terminals share the same runways.

The domestic terminal was relocated to the old Lagos domestic terminal in 2000 after a fire. A new domestic terminal has been constructed and was commissioned on April 7 2007.Currently all previously malfunctioning or non-operational infrastructure have either been replaced or repaired.

The entire airport now looks better - compared to its previous state and now operates many new restaurants and duty-free stores. Bilateral Air Services Agreements signed between Nigeria and other countries are being revived and new ones signed.

These agreements have seen the likes of Emirates, Ocean Air, Delta and China Southern Airlines express interest and receive landing rights to Nigeria's largest international airport.

Also expansion of the departure and arrival halls of the Lagos Nigeria Airport to accommodate the ever increasing traffic at the airport is currently being pursued by the Federal Government.

Major air services provided by the airport

Passenger services

Major airline operators operating from Terminal 1 of Lagos Nigeria Airport include;

Aero Contractors, Afriqiyah Airways, Air France, Alitalia, Arik Air, Bell view, British Airways, China Southern Airlines, Delta Airlines, Egypt Air, Emirates, Ethiopian Airlines, Iberia, Kenya Airways, KLM, Lufthansa Airlines, Qatar Airways, South African Airlines, Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Nigeria among others.

Their flight destinations include;

Major African cities such as Accra, Libreville, Malabo, Monrovia, freetown, Abidjan, Banjul, Cairo, Cape town, Conakry, Dakar, Douala, Johannesburg, and Nairobi. Major European, Asian and American cities include; Frankfurt, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Atlanta, New York, Beijing, Delhi, Rome, Dubai and Madrid.

General Aviation Terminal 2 (Domestic)

Contractors, Chachangi, Capital Airlines, Bell view, IRS Airlines and Afrijet Airlines. They cover major Nigerian cities such as Abuja, Yola, Minna, Ilorin, Enugu, calabar, Port Harcourt, Maiduguri and Sokoto.

Cargo services

Some cargo airlines like Air France Cargo, Allied air, Avient Aviation, Cargolux, Jade Cargo, Star Airlines and Macedonia also operate flight services to destinations like Charles de gaulle, Ostend, Abidjan, Bamako, Malabo, Ouagadougou, Sharjah, Hong kong and Luxemburg.

return home from Lagos Nigeria Airport Flights to Abuja from Lagos Nigeria