he inability of passengers to get their luggage on time at the Murtala Mohammed Airport,2 Ikeja Lagos, has been attributed to manpower shortage on the part of the handling companies operating at the airport.
Speaking with reporters in Lagos, the Deputy General Manager, Public Affairs, Murtala Muhammed Airport, Mr Victor Chiji Arisa, explained that the two handling firms, Skyway Aviation Handling Company SAHCOL and Nigerian Aviation Handling Company NAHCO are short staffed and could not provide the required manpower at the evacuation site.
He said the authority has discovered that luggage handlers load cargo meant for other airports into Lagos-bound flights – making it difficult to be sorted out.
“We also observe that the handlers also sometimes load bigger luggage that are not suppose to pass through here that are supposed to go to cargo, which also help to wear down the conveyor belt. There are certain amount of kilos that are not supposed to come in here, sometimes people bring in motor spare parts. Some of them with sharp edges and they destroy the belt.
“Again, we have observed that the loaders are not enough. This has been the problem and we pointed it out. We are going to take it up with the handling companies. So that they will send enough manpower, loaders to handle that,” said Arisa.
While explaining that though that the conveyor belts were old, he assured that new belts would soon be purchased to replace them.
He said the airport still has the capacity to handle more airlines, adding that Nigeria has the market.