Four months after closure, the domestic runway (18L/36R) of the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA) in Lagos has been reopened for flight operations.
The Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) closed the 2.7 kilometres (2,700m) long runway 18L/36R on July 7, 2022 for the installation of navigational facilities.
The agency had at the time given reason that it planned to install approach lights, runway lights (threshold and centre, edge light) and others on the runway, which until the closure could only operate sunrise services.
FAAN said after the installation of the new aids, the runway would operate both sunrise and sunset flights, which would further ease the burden of operators.
According to a Notice-To-Airmen (NOTAM) from the Aeronautical Information Services (AIS) of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), the runway lighting had been installed and used by airlines for their first flights out of Lagos today.
NOTAM stated that FAAN completed the runway lighting sometime last week but delayed the reopening to ensure that the facility passed a reliability test carried out on it.
