Murtala Muhammed International Airport

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Coordinates: 06°34′38″N 003°19′16″E / 6.57722, 3.32111

Murtala Muhammed International Airport MMA

IATA: LOS – ICAO: DNMM
Summary
Airport type		Public
Owner/Operator		Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN)
Serves		Lagos, Nigeria
Location		Ikeja
Elevation AMSL		135 ft / 41 m
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
Direction	m	ft	Surface
18R/36L	3,900	12,794	Asphalt
18L/36R	2,742	8,997	Asphalt
Sources: FAAN ^[1] and DAFIF ^[2]^[3]

Murtala Muhammed International Airport^[1] (IATA: LOS, ICAO: DNMM) is located in Ikeja, Lagos State, Nigeria, and is the major airport serving the city of Lagos, southwestern Nigeria and the entire nation. It was named after former Nigerian military head of state Murtala Muhammed. The international terminal was modeled after Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. The airport opened officially on March 15 1979.

Murtala Muhammed International Airport consists of an international and a domestic terminal, located about 1km from each other. Both terminals share the same runways. The domestic terminal was relocated to the old Lagos domestic terminal in 2000 after a fire. A new domestic terminal has been constructed and was commissioned on April 7 2007.

In 2004, the airport served 3,695,714 passengers.

1 History and Reputation
2 Statistics
3 Airlines and destinations
4 Accidents and incidents
5 References
6 External links

[edit] History and Reputation

During the late 1980s and 1990s, the international terminal had a reputation as a dangerous airport. From 1992 through 2000, the US Federal Aviation Administration posted warning signs in all US international airports advising travelers that security conditions at LOS did not meet ICAO minimum standards. In 1993 the FAA suspended air service between Lagos and the United States. During this period, security at LOS continued to be a serious problem.^{[citation needed]} Travellers arriving in Lagos were harassed both inside and outside of the airport terminal by criminals. Airport staff contributed to its reputation. Immigration officers required bribes before stamping passports, while customs agents demanded payment for nonexistent fees. In addition, several jet airplanes were attacked by criminals who stopped planes taxiing to and from the terminal and robbed their cargo holds. Many travel guides suggested that Nigeria-bound travellers fly into Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport in Kano and take domestic flights or ground transportation into Lagos.

Following Olusegun Obasanjo's democratic election in 1999, the security situation at LOS began to improve. Airport police instituted a shoot on sight policy for anyone found in the secure areas around runways and taxiways, stopping further aeroplane robberies. Police secured the inside of the terminal and the arrival areas outside. The FAA ended its suspension of direct flights to Nigeria 2001 in recognition of these security improvements.^{[citation needed]}

Recent years have seen substantial improvements at Murtala Muhammed International Airport. Malfunctioning and non-operational infrastructure such as air conditioning and luggage belts have been repaired. The entire airport has been cleaned, and many new restaurants and duty-free stores have opened. Bilateral Air Services Agreements signed between Nigeria and other countries are being revived and new ones signed. These agreements have seen the likes of Emirates, Ocean Air, Delta and China Southern Airlines express interest and receive landing rights to Nigeria's largest international airport.

The Federal Government has given approval for the expansion of the departure and arrival halls of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport to accommodate the ever increasing traffic at the airport.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Statistics

**Statistics for Murtala Muhammed International Airport** ^[4]
Year	Total Passengers	% Increase	Freight (tons)	Total Aircraft Movements
2003	3,362,464	-%	51,826	62,439
2004	3,576,189	6%	89,496	67,208
2005	3,817,338	6.3%	63,807	70,893
2006	3,848,757	0.8%	83,598	74,650

[edit] Airlines and destinations

[edit] International Terminal

Aero Contractors (Abidjan, Accra, Libreville, Malabo, Monrovia, Sao Tome)
Afriqiyah Airways (Cotonou, Tripoli)
Air France (Paris-Charles de Gaulle)
Alitalia (Accra, Rome-Fiumicino)
Bellview Airlines (Abidjan, Accra, Banjul, Conakry, Dakar, Douala, Freetown, Johannesburg, Libreville, London-Heathrow, Monrovia)
British Airways (London-Heathrow)
Cameroon Airlines (Abidjan, Bamako, Dakar, Douala)
China Southern Airlines (Beijing, Dubai)
Delta Air Lines (Atlanta)
EgyptAir (Cairo)
Emirates (Dubai)
Ethiopian Airlines (Accra, Addis Ababa)
Hewa Bora Airways (Douala, Kinshasa, Lome)
Iberia Airlines (Madrid)
Kenya Airways (Nairobi)
KLM (Amsterdam)
Lufthansa (Accra, Frankfurt)
Middle East Airlines (Beirut)
Qatar Airways (Doha)
Royal Air Maroc (Casablanca)
South African Airways (Johannesburg)
Turkish Airlines (Istanbul-Atatürk)
Virgin Atlantic (London-Heathrow)
Virgin Nigeria (Abuja, Accra, Benin City, Calabar, Cotonou, Dakar, Douala, Johannesburg, Kano, London-Gatwick, London-Heathrow, Owerri, Port Harcourt, Sokoto, Warri)

[edit] Cargo

Etihad (Abu Dhabi Spring 2008)

[edit] Domestic Terminal

Aero Contractors (Nigeria) (Abuja, Bebi, Benin City, Calabar, Enugu, Owerri, Port Harcourt, Warri)
Arik Air (Abuja, Accra, Akure, Benin City, Calabar, Enugu, Jos, Kano, Maiduguri, Port Harcourt, Sokoto, Warri, Yola )
Bellview Airlines (Abuja, Kano, Owerri, Port Harcourt)
Chanchangi Airlines (Abuja, Kaduna, Port Harcourt)
IRS Airlines (Abuja, Kano, Maiduguri)
Overland Airways (Ilorin)
SPDC (Shell Private Airlines) (Warri, Port Harcourt)

[edit] Accidents and incidents

November 23, 1996: Hijackers forced Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961, bound from Mumbai and Addis Ababa to Abidjan through many stops (including Lagos), to crash into the Indian Ocean.
January 30, 2000: Kenya Airways Flight 431 was originally intended to fly from Nairobi to Lagos to Abidjan, but the flight diverted to Abidjan. The aircraft hit the water after takeoff to Lagos.
October 22, 2005: Bellview Airlines Flight 210, bound for Abuja, crashed after takeoff, killing everyone on board.