The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has reopened Runway 18R/36L at the Murtala Mohammed Airport, Lagos, following the removal of Azman Air’s Boeing 737-500 aircraft which obstructed the runway on Tuesday after it had a burst tyre on landing.
The aircraft with registration 5N SYS, and flight number ZQ2325 was grounded in the middle of the runway, forcing the airlines to cancel flights.
Channels Television quoted the spokesperson for FAAN, Yakubu Henrietta to have said in an update posted on the agency’s official Twitter handle that the aircraft was removed in the early hours of Wednesday and the runway is now opened for operation.
Flight operations at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos were crippled as an aircraft belonging to Azman Air, which had a burst tyre on landing blocked the runway, preventing takeoff or landing of other aircraft.
Thousand of passengers, who were billed to travel on Tuesday night were stranded at the airport, as the only runway that serves the International airport was obstructed.
Some of the aggrieved travellers blamed the government and airport authorities for providing only one runway for such a very busy airport.
They said that despite the huge amounts allocated for airport expansions and repairs, successive administrations at the airport have not carried out any major work at the airport.