Murtala Muhammed International Airport
Facts on LOS
The airport was first built during World War II. West African Airways Corporation, formed in 1947 with its main base at Ikeja, flew De Havilland Doves on Nigerian internal routes before adding larger Douglas Dakotas from 1957.
Source: Wikipedia
The airport is named for Murtala Ramat Muhammed (1938-1976), a Nigerian military officer who led the 1966 counter-coup and rose to brigadier general at 33 — one of the youngest generals in Nigeria's history — before ruling the country as its fourth head of state from July 1975 until his assassination in February 1976.
Source: Wikipedia
Originally called Lagos Airport, the field was renamed Murtala Muhammed International Airport in 1976 in honor of the head of state, months after he was killed in a failed coup attempt.
Source: Wikipedia
The international terminal built through the 1970s was modeled after Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, cost ₦240 million to build, and officially opened on 15 March 1979.
Source: Wikipedia
From 1992 to 2000, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration posted warnings at every American international airport that security conditions at Lagos did not meet ICAO minimum standards, and in 1993 the FAA suspended air service between Lagos and the United States entirely.
Source: Wikipedia
The airport's domestic terminal shifted into the old Ikeja Airport building, then relocated again after a 2000 fire; a privately funded replacement, MMA2, was commissioned on 7 April 2007.
Source: Wikipedia
A new international terminal, financed partly by a loan from China's Exim Bank approved in 2012, broke ground in 2013 and was finally commissioned by President Muhammadu Buhari on 22 March 2022, with capacity to process 14 million passengers a year.
Source: Wikipedia
By 2010 the airport had earned the FAA's highest safety rating after years of security improvements, the same year it served 6,273,545 passengers.
Source: Wikipedia