The Liberia Airport Authority (LAA) and the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) have reassured the Senate Joint Committee on Hydrocarbons, Energy, and Environment of their ongoing commitment to ensuring a stable and reliable power supply at Roberts International Airport (RIA).
However, the agencies appeared before the committee on Tuesday, April 2, 2025, to discuss the power outage that affected the airport on March 30, 2025, but by 1:00 AM the following morning, power was fully restored, and by 4:00 PM, a replacement transformer was installed.
LAA Acting Managing Director, Jero Mends-Cole, addressing the Senate, expressing gratitude for their support and reaffirming the LAA’s commitment to the reliability of RIA’s power supply, and said, “We are committed to ensuring that Roberts International Airport remains a critical hub for Liberia’s development and global connectivity.”
He further emphasized the LAA’s ongoing efforts to improve the airport’s infrastructure to handle any power disruptions in the future, and intoned, “The swift response and collaboration between the LAA and LEC have shown that we are prepared for such unforeseen events.”
Mends-Cole continued, “We are taking significant steps to future-proof the airport’s power systems to ensure that the airport remains operational and safe for passengers.”
Deputy Director for Technical Services at LAA, Jonathan C. Enders at the same time reassured the Senate about the airport’s preparedness to handle such events, and emphasized that, despite the disruption, the LAA responded swiftly to maintain operations.
“We take this matter very seriously, and we are fully committed to ensuring that Roberts International Airport operates with a reliable and uninterrupted power supply, and this incident has provided valuable lessons, and we are already taking steps to improve infrastructure and prevent such issues from happening again,” Enders noted.
LAA officials confirmed that backup generators were immediately deployed, ensuring that critical operations such as runway lights and essential services continued without interruption, and stressed the importance of maintaining safety and operational continuity for both passengers and flights, even in the face of unforeseen events.
Meanwhile, in his statement, LEC Managing Director Thomas Gonkerwon provided a detailed account of the technical aspects of the incident, and explained that the bird strike damaged an isolator connected to a transformer, leading to the temporary loss of power to the terminal.
He noted, “The airport is a critical load on our system, and when this incident occurred, we had to switch to the generator to keep essential services running. Our team acted swiftly to restore power.”
While the bird strike was an unforeseeable incident, both the LAA and LEC outlined their plans to further enhance the power infrastructure at the airport, as LAA is in the process of procuring a new 3-megawatt transformer, which will reduce reliance on the national grid and improve the airport’s power capacity.
The LAA management also announced that its backup generator capacity has been increased to 2.5 megawatts, ensuring that key areas, such as the terminal building, control tower, and VIP lounges, will remain operational during any future power interruptions.
Bomi County Senator, Edwin Melvin Snowe commended the quick response of the LAA and LEC teams and stressed the importance of continued transparency and cooperation in addressing such issues.
While, Montserrado County Senator, Abraham Darius Dillon, acknowledged the prompt actions taken, but underscored the need for a long-term solution to prevent similar incidents in the future.
He expressed the need for sustained dialogue and efforts to ensure the airport’s power system remains stable.