By KENNETH EHIGHATOR
LAGOS—THE Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, yesterday, said it terminated the concession agreement with Maevis Nigeria Limited to improve its services and revenue profile.

FAAN’s General Manager, Public Affairs, Mr. Akin Olukunle, said in a statement that in terminating the agreement, the agency did not only heed the directive of the Aviation Ministry to do so but also the advice of the Senate which, after a public hearing in 2010 asked that the agreement be dispensed with.

He explained: “FAAN had on October 31, 2007 entered into agreement with Maevis Limited to provide an integrated Airport Operations Management System, AOMS, for FAAN.

“On the decision of the  Ministers of Aviation, Labour and Justice, a notice of termination was duly issued to Maevis on February 24, 2011, with a two-month notice period with regards to the Concession Agreement. Thus the Concession effectively terminated on expiration of this notice on May 23, 2011.

“It is also necessary to recall that a year earlier, specifically in May 2010, the Senate Committee on Aviation had invited both parties to a public hearing. After listening to both sides and reviewing the terms of the agreement and implementation thereof, resolved that FAAN should dispense with the services of Maevis Ltd since it was not adding value to FAAN’s revenue profile.”

He quoted the Managing Director of FAAN, Mr George Uriesi, as explaining that the move to terminate the concession agreement was in line with the turn-around strategy of the agency to restore it to a state of normalcy and reposition it as a strong going concern.

He added that the agreement was lopsided in favour of the concessionaire to the detriment of FAAN and, therefore, not in the public interest.

Olukunle said the termination was based on the fact that Meavis Limited failed to comply with the fundamental terms of the agreement from the very beginning.

“As a result, the continuing existence of the concession presented not just a serious threat to FAAN’s current and future cash flows, but also to the very viability of the Authority as a going concern,” he said.

He also quoted his boss as saying that SITA, a world class service provider, would take over the AOMS service.

SITA is the global leader in the provision of airport information technology services, In Africa alone, SITA provides services for airports in South Africa, Kenya, Egypt, Tunisia and Ghana.

“Bringing SITA on board with FAAN ensures that Nigeria’s airports will benefit from their cutting edge systems, which are designed to improve airport services to airlines and passengers, while reducing costs.

“Most importantly, FAAN has entered into an Airport Service Contract with SITA, bringing it in line with global best practice, rather than a ‘Revenue Collection Concession Agreement’ that is designed to give away huge chunks of FAAN’s revenue unfairly,” Uriesi was quoted as saying.