FAAN Gives Ultimatum to clear boneyards in Nigeria

The Nigerian Federal Aviation Authority (FAAN) has issued a 1 month ultimatum to the country's aircraft owners and operators, to remove all  abandoned aircraft that litter Nigeria's 8 major airports or risk legal proceedings as the country moves to cast off the stereotypical image of African aviationl, the obligatory aircraft bone-yard filled with rusting 707 hulks (and the occasional Antonov tossed in for good measure).

The move to clean up Nigeria's airfields come as the country relaunched its National Aviation Master Plan in April, which calls for Nigerian aviation to be " a world class secure, safe and comfortable air-transport sector viable for economic growth in Nigeria.

Whilst it may seem simple in principle, the entire process of removing the abandoned hulks involves numerous legal obstacles in addition to belligerence on the aircraft owners' behalves. In fact there has been several attempts in the past by FAAN to remove aircraft but it was met by a large opposition of aircraft owners who drag the case to court.

A recent statement from FAAN’s general manager Mr Yakubu Dati, explained that the exercise had become necessary because the aircraft have continued to constitute serious safety hazards. "Their abandonment has also become an eyesore at Nigerian airports, as some of them are abandoned for upwards of ten years. We are constrained to embark on this removal exercise because owners of these abandoned aircraft have deliberately refused to remove them despite all efforts by the Authority to make them do so," Dati said.

He said some of the owners of abandoned aircraft had taken FAAN to court over the issue and got court injunctions that made it difficult for the Authority to carry out the exercise before now. "Some of these cases have now been concluded hence the commencement of the removal exercise, at least for the abandoned aircraft cases of which have been concluded,"

Here below are various pictures found of Nigeria's ubiquitous airport bone-yards over the last 10 years. Some aircraft are still there, some have been scrapped. All credit goes the original photographers.