The Senate has moved to curb the practice of keeping commercial aircraft airborne for extended periods because of Very Important Persons (VIPs) movements and other security operations, warning that the practice could endanger the lives of passengers and crew members.
The upper chamber, which raised the alarm on Tuesday, said prolonged holding patterns caused by temporary suspension of landing operations could expose aircraft to avoidable aviation risks, including fuel emergencies, bad weather and air traffic congestion.
The Senate’s position followed a motion of urgent national importance sponsored by Senator Isah Jibrin, who called for urgent measures to ensure that security arrangements do not compromise the safety of commercial flights.
Lawmakers observed that commercial aircraft scheduled to land at some Nigerian airports were sometimes compelled to remain airborne for extended periods, reportedly exceeding one hour, while landing operations were suspended to accommodate VIP movements or other security-related activities.
They also noted that some international flights scheduled to land at Nigerian airports had been forced to divert to alternative airports within the country when access to their destinations was temporarily restricted.
While acknowledging the need for security arrangements around VIPs and other protected persons, the Senate insisted that such operations must be handled in a manner that does not expose commercial aircraft to unnecessary danger.
It warned that prolonged airborne delays could result in excessive fuel consumption, reducing the reserves available to pilots, particularly when the duration of the holding pattern exceeds what was anticipated during flight planning.
The lawmakers further identified deteriorating weather conditions, air traffic congestion, limited diversion options, crew duty-time restrictions and possible fuel-related emergencies as additional risks associated with the practice.
The Senate expressed concern that the danger could become more serious when several aircraft are simultaneously held in the air, waiting for clearance to land.
It argued that aviation authorities and airlines should be informed in advance whenever restrictions are expected at destination airports to allow proper coordination of departure slots, arrival schedules and flight operations.
According to the upper chamber, allowing aircraft to depart despite prior knowledge of impending landing restrictions unnecessarily transfers the burden of managing such restrictions to pilots and passengers already airborne.
It maintained that ground delays, revised departure slots and coordinated flight sequencing were safer alternatives where temporary restrictions could be anticipated.
Consequently, the Senate urged the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) and Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to enforce operational procedures requiring advance coordination and timely notification of planned airspace restrictions to airlines.
It specifically called on the agencies to ensure that, whenever landing restrictions are foreseeable, aircraft movements are managed through ground-based control measures at departure airports rather than allowing flights to take off only to remain airborne for prolonged periods.
The upper chamber also mandated its Committee on Aviation to engage the NCAA, NAMA and FAAN to ensure strict compliance with the proposed operational procedures.
The committee is expected to report back to the Senate within two weeks.
