Ikeja—The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, has restated its warning to owners of unserviceable airplanes to remove the planes from the nation’s airports.

The General Manager, Corporate Communications of FAAN, Mr Yakubu Dati, gave the warning in an interview in Lagos yesterday.

He said that the unserviceable planes constituted environmental hazards at the airports.

He told the owners of the planes to do the needful by removing the planes as directed by FAAN or face sanctions.

“You will recall that the authority cleared some of the abandoned aircraft about a year ago.

“We are now engaging the owners to do the needful and we are confident they will respond very soon,” he said.

FAAN last year, gave owners of the abandoned airplanes a week ultimatum to remove the planes.

Dati listed Lagos, Enugu, Kano, Kaduna, Imo and FCT airports as places where unserviceable aircraft were abandoned.

He said that some of the airplanes had been abandoned for over 10 years while some were impounded for transporting contraband goods.

The spokesman identified owners of airplanes abandoned at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos to include Omar Air, DASAB, NICON and Bellview Airlines.

Others are Spaceworld International, IRS, Capital Air, Sosoliso and Albarka Airlines.

Dati said that some of the aircraft owners, including Spaceworld and Capital Air, had given FAAN go-ahead to evacuate their airplanes.

He said there was no going back on the planned evacuation of the abandoned airplanes.

It will be recalled that a committee was set up in 2002 by the then Minister of Aviation, Mrs Kema Chikwe, to oversee the removal of the planes.

But the committee could not carry out the assignment, due to court injunctions by some of the aircraft owners.