The Nation Newspaper

Category: Aviation

  • Minister assures Aero of support

    Minister of State for Aviation Hadi Sirika has assured the nation’s troubled oldest carrier, Aero Contractors, of governmnent’s support.

    Sirika said he would get presidential approval to set up an Inter–Ministerial Committee to get to the root of the airline’s problems.

    The committee, he said, would ascertain who is not sincere between the workers and the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) .

    He said in the interim, he would appeal to the management to re-open Aero offices and allow workers to return.

    Such arrangement, he said, would require the unions to  guarantee that the workers would not misbehave.

    Sirika said: “We have a very serious problem on our hands. It needs participation, understanding, sincerity. We have a fantastic brand in Aero. That brand is slowly being destroyed. That brand is about to be extinct and except we join hands and do something together, we may not be able to resolve the issue. The issue is not about you and me but about our children, who will inherit this from us.

    “Many people blame Aero but I don’t think so. Aero’s problems did not start with AMCON coming in. It started way back. The world is watching what we are going to do. The President is concerned, so are the unions and the workers. How do we return the brand to the air and not kill it? How do we revive Aero, retain all the workers and ensure that it continues to operate? There is no how we would sit down as government and allow people to lose their jobs or sit down and kill businesses. There is no difference between Indomie and Aero Contractor. They are both brands. We have to collectively proffer solution to Aero’s problems.Let us change Aero’s story and do something that will make Aero fly.”

  • UN to establish aviation security schools

    The United Nations is to establish two aviation security training schools in Nigeria.

    The objective is to provide support for the nation’s counter-terrorism strategy.

    Briefing the Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika in his office, the UN-appointed Project Manager for the schools, Douglas Melvin, said the initiative would also enhance the capacity in the UN system to help interested member-states to implement the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy.

    According to him, the choice of Nigeria out of 25 countries  was in appreciation of its   roadmap in developing the sector, with emphasis on safety and security. Nigeria, he said, stood to reap more benefits than the training of its aviation security workers by the best experts.

    Other benefits, he said, included the provision of, and exposure to hi-tech aviation security equipment and the generation of revenue from training of aviation security workers from other countries.

    Melvin said the upcoming UN General Assembly would make a proclamation on aviation security with specific reference to Nigeria.

    Sirika spoke of the government’s readiness to provide the necessary logistics for the take-off and operation of the two institutes to be located in Abuja and Lagos.

    The Minister stressed the need for an integrated international counter-terrorism strategy which the UN is set to address through the schools.

    Sirika described Nigeria’s choice as a boost to its desire to become a regional aviation hub and entire investors’ confidence in the country.

  • ‘How Lagos, Abuja airports can become subregional hubs’

    ‘How Lagos, Abuja airports can become subregional hubs’

    How can Nigerian airports become sub- regional hubs in West and Central Africa? It is by ensuring that transit facilities are provided at the airports, Minister of State, Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika and others have said.

    Part of the transit facilties include: smart terminals with state-of-the-art technology, runways, aprons, taxi ways, hotels, shopping lounge and spars, among others that can give passengers’ comfort.

    Sirika, who spoke in Lagos, said Nigeria’s geographical location is not enough to make the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, and Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, hubs as the facilities are yet to be upgraded to accommodate large aircraft, including Airbus 380 and the latest Boeing 777.

    He said efforts should be made to  fix facilities at these airports to improve service delivery, in order to attract the right passenger traffic expected at airport hubs.

    Besides the provision of facilities, there is the need to pursue a private sector driven national carrier that will drive passenger traffic at other airports to feed the hubs.

    Sirika also canvassed the establishment of aircraft maintenance repair centre, otherwise known as MRO, to attract capital into the airport. The minister listed other steps that could  accelerate the hub status, to include the establishment of an aircraft leasing company to facilitate airplane acquisiction for Nigerian operators.

    The government, he said, was not leaving anything to chance to ensure that the airports became hubs for West and Central Africa. Part of the strategy, he said, includes concession of airports for effective management.

    Sirika described concession as the best way to attract investors into airports operations, saying would-be investors will pump money into the terminals to ensure that the facilities are top of the range.

    He said most airports across the globe, including London’s Heathrow and some in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), are not owned by governments but operated under concession arrangements to achieve efficiency.

    Sirika said: “We can’t create a hub from Nigerian airports as they are. This is simply because the facilities are less than deserving the requirements to become hubs.   The operational facilities are not adequate, even, wide-bodied aircraft cannot be handled by Nigerian  airports because of the size of their runways, aprons and taxi ways.

    “Apart from the constrains of facilities, the atmosphere within Nigerian airports are not the ideal, it is extremely difficult to attract passengers. If you go to Heathrow airport, or Dubai airport, you will  see and experience an ideal airport environment you don’t want to leave.”

    He said Nigerian airports are currently handling 15 million passengers annually, but with concession and  hub status,  the condition of the airports could be turned around in 24 months. “We would be able to handle between 70 to 100 million passengers annually, while Lagos alone can handle 15 million if the airports are good.

    “Let me tell you that about 40 per cent of passengers like to transit through fantastic airports like Dubai just because of the facilities and experience,” Sirika, said.

    Also speaking, Chairman, Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), Captain Nogie Meg-gison, said Nigeria’s geographical location is not suitable enough to make its airports become hubs. He canvassed strong indigenous airlines that should be supported by the government.

    Such airlines, Meggison  said,  would distribute passengers from Europe, America, Asia and other destinations outside the continent to various parts of Africa when they arrive at the airport that operated as a hub.

    He said: “People coming from America can transit through the Lagos Airport  to Accra, Niger Republic,  South Africa, as well as  everywhere on the continent.“

    The airline operator  said since Nigeria has the natural position and population, which would provide manpower, the country will need to get the airport amenities right; adding that there is an urgent need to upgrade airport runways, lights and terminals.

    He said if Nigeria becomes a hub for Africa, that would mean more taxes from food, hotels and landing charges from airlines. Aviation is not airline only; there is a service that goes to it,” Meggison said.

    Other experts said the advantages that come from being a hub include revenues from payment of landing and parking fees, servicing of aircraft, airport taxes, blossoming of the hotel industry and revenue from aviation fuel.

    Citing an example of Dubai, Meggison noted that Dubai leveraged on its natural position to become a natural hub between the Eastern world and the Western world.

    He said: “At the Murtala Muhammed Airport, there are no amenities for transit passengers. So, passengers will not want to spend money to transit through Nigeria, rather, they will transit through Dubai, where there are comfort facilities.

    “If airline companies like Delta Airline are making a turnover of N2 billion and 60 per cent of passenger load  from Nigeria, then there is a need to harness the opportunities,” he added.

    However, few months ago, Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Saleh Dunoma, said  the new terminals at Nigeria’s major international airports in Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Port-Harcourt and Enugu, will make Nigeria the hub of aviation in Africa, when completed before the end of the year.

  • Groups kick against union chief’s promotion

    Groups kick against union chief’s promotion

    • ‘It’s a normal civil service exercise’

    Two unions have kicked against the transfer of Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) National President Comrade Benjamin Okewu from the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT) to the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB).

    The National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE) and the Nigerian Aviation Professionals Association (NAPA) have petitioned the Ministry of Aviation and other government agencies over the matter. The ministry, it was learnt, is investigating the case.

    According to investigations, the unions’ stand is predicated on alleged contravention of civil service regulations.

    Okewu was moved from NCAT grade level 12 to AIB on grade level 15, a development NAAPE and NAPA insisted was an affront on public service rules.

    The unions claimed that it was not right for the ATSSSAN President to benefit from what they have been mobilising against in the industry.

    They said failure to revert to the status quo  could cause industrial disharmony.

    Investigations revealed that ATSSSAN members at the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), ostensibly, the most active in the industry, have frowned at the alleged division in the association, saying this may expose the factionalised associations to political manipulation.

    The Secretary-General,  NAPA, Abdulrasaq Saidu, said the secondment of Okewu was null and void until the right procedures are followed.

    Some ATSSSAN members in NCAA have  expressed  worry that though the tenure of Okewu had expired, its extension by some section of the association may have given room for this appointment at AIB, which they considered as  an “illegal elevation and promotion.”

    The union’s petition reads: “Of concern to NAAPE is that the ATTSSAN president upon resumption in AIB had done nothing else except fuelling industrial disharmony.

    “Immediately he came  on board, he threw caution to the wind by unilaterally stopping the release of NAAPE members for an already approved official engagement.

    “Secondly, he terminated the contracts of older hands, well seasoned and trained aviators, who had over 30 to 40 years of aviation background both in engineering and operations, in addition to  well groomed accident investigators.

    “This notwithstanding, Benjamin Okewu went ahead to reconstitute a disciplinary committee citing wrongly the public service rule and AIB proposed conditions of service for his actions.”

    The union said his action was without recourse to management as there existed  in the AIB, a subsisting disciplinary committee with a director serving as the chairman.

    Investigations revealed that both ATTSSAN, NAAPE members feared that “Okewu’s secondment“ would entrench personal vendetta that could plunge the aviation industry into industrial disharmony.

    The AIB has, however, described the secondment of Okewu as a normal exercise in the civil service.

    According to AIB’s spokesman, Mr Tunji Oketunbi, issues raised in a petition reportedly authored by NAAPE over Okewu’s placement or elevation is a misrepresentation of extant rules on secondment of personnel.

    Oketunbi said: “AIB management is constrained to respond to set the records straight. In the first instance, secondment is a normal exercise in the civil service. Mr Okewu was not placed in an underserved position even as the management has not violated extant rules on secondment.

    “If the authors of the petition had done their home work, they would have realised that the salary structure of the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT),  Zaria is different from that of the regular civil service. NCAT is part of the tertiary education salary structure where the highest grade level is CONTEDIS 15 for a director while the civil service salary structure, which AIB operates, terminates at Grade Level 17 for a General Manager.

    “Besides, Mr Okewu was due for promotion as at January 2016. AIB cannot promote him, but only asked him to cover the duties of the Head of Human Resources in acting capacity as AGM (GL 15 or CONTEDIS 13). Moving into Human Resources from planning background in addition to his immense experience in industrial relations is a plus for his new assignment.

    “The management frowns at NAAPE meddling in the internal affairs of AIB and urge it to concentrate on working for the improvement of its members’ welfare. Trade unions should not fan embers of disunity, but work for cohesion and team work in establishments where they are represented.”

  • SAHCOL partners Air France/KLM

    Skyway Aviation Handling Company Limited (SAHCOL) has struck  a partnership  deal with  the cargo units of Air France/KLM.

    The partnership is part of efforts to promote cargo export in Nigeria.

    The collaboration  was disclosed last week at a  customers’ forum in Lagos.

    The deal will enhance the freight of locally made goods, especially tonnes of farm produce to Europe and America.

    Country Manager of Air France/ KLM cargo, Gabriel Lalande, described the  partnership with SAHCOL as   a huge boost for Nigeria’s drive for export as  part of efforts to diversify the economy.

    Lalande said  Nigeria had for too long experienced a huge gap in import and export of goods through the airports.

    He noted that with the slump in value of the naira and economic recession, the country is beginning to maximise its export potentials with attendant opportunity for efficient cargo services.

    Lalande said: “Nigeria has a lot of import and export capacities, but currently freighting at low capacity. Most people do the import business, but who wants to grow the export?

    “There are evidences that we all can grow export. Import in Nigeria for first half of 2016 is already minus 21 per cent because of high cost of foreign goods due to foreign exchange and less demands. It means we are losing money.”

  • ‘Local aircraft maintenance’ll save $3b yearly’

    ‘Local aircraft maintenance’ll save $3b yearly’

    Nigeria will save $3 billion yearly, if indigenous airlines maintain their aircraft locally.

    Speaking at the weekend, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Onedot Aviation, Capt. Henry Oludotun Ogunyemi, said the amount covered heavy maintenance checks on  some aircraft type, including Beoing, for which the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), had given its approval.

    He said Nigeria was losing huge sums to other countries because of the failure of the government and  private organisations to set up such facilities.

    This is coming at a time it is difficult for airlines owners to source dollars for the maintenance of aircraft abroad due to the Federal Government’s foreign exchange (Forex) policy.

    Experts said airlines require over $1 million to carry out repairs  known as C and D checks on their  aircraft.

    In an interview, Chairman of Air Peace Mr Allen Onyema said domestic carriers could save more money if there were maintenance facilities in the country. He said the huge sums spent on overseas maintenance of aircraft could not be readily recovered from ticket sales.

    The Chief Executive Officer of Aerocontractors of Nigeria, Captain Fola Akinkuotu, said such aircraft maintenance facility would reduce costs for airlines.

    Akinkuotu said offshore maintenance of aircraft was affecting many carriers, forcing some to abandon their aircraft at such facilities.

    Vice President of Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) Comrade Ilitrus Ahmadu said local maintenance of aircraft would save the industry huge sums of money.

    He said investors should consider   setting up aircraft maintenance facilities to reduce airlines’ operating costs for airlines.

    Ogunyemi said taking aircraft overseas for maintenance for, say Boeing aircraft, was costly.

    He said the prevailing economic condition should impress it on airlines to consider patronising  local Maintain, Repair and Overhaul (MROs) operators that have the capacity for their type of aircrtaft.

    Ogunyemi  said the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) had approved Onedot Aviation to carry out  line and  maintenance checks for Beechcraft, HS-125 and Bombardier, among others.

    He said  such checks started since 2014, while line and maintenance checks on Boeing 737-200 and Boeing 737-300/400/500 series   kicked off two months ago.

    Ogunyemi said Onedot Aviation had carried out a B-Check on an Air Stream’s Boeing 737-200 cargo aircraft, which had returned to service.

    He urged other domestic airlines to patronise Onedot Aviation, noting that the company had qualified engineers to carry out aircraft maintenance with  state-of- the-art facilities.

    Ogunyemi  said Onedot could also reduce the rush for forex as it would bill the airlines in naira, adding that one of the benefits of carrying out MROs locally was that it would save airlines a lot of funds which, according to him, could lead to business expansion for such airlines.

    Ogunyemi said: “First, putting all the airlines’maintenance together, Nigeria will be saving $3 billon yearly if we patronise our own local MROs. There will be reduced stress on the dollar currency and this cut across all the airlines. It is cheaper for the airlines to carry out their maintenance in the country. First and foremost, the ferry cost is saved as it takes time to ferry an aircraft to an from wherever it is done overseas.

    ‘’Even the ground time is saved as sometimes some aircraft stay six months and others stay a year; so, the airline will save in ground time. Saving money and ground time increases the profit of the airline. Airlines are free to check our services out.”

    He continued: “With increase of profit, there can also be an increase in fleet which means increment of staff, pilots and cabin crew employing more Nigerians, creating more jobs. In fact, the ripple effect is so numerous and cannot be underscored. Assuming they are not expanding or recruiting, they will be able to pay their staff and not owe, eliminating unnecessary hardships.”

    Ogunyemi also said local MROs would enable the maintenance outfit increase its capacity, train and employ more Nigerians.

    His words: “We have experienced base engineers in Nigeria already that can take over from the expatriates who are already on ground with the initial know-how and technology. With the MRO there will be jobs for the teeming engineers and retraining of engineers to keep a base of sound technical hands who hitherto flew overseas. that we have now. There will be job opportunities and there will be training.”

  • FAAN woos investors with incentives

    The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) is attracting investors to the airports by providing them land for aviation and non-aeronautical facilities, its Managing Director, Saleh Dunoma, has said.

    In an interview, he said the authority had worked out a template to attract investors interested in infrastructure, including construction and management of hangar facilities and fixed base operations (FBOs).

    He listed other projects to include  hotels, construction and management of automated car parks, development of terminal buildings, construction of runways, taxiways and aprons; construction and management of helipads and construction and management of independent power plants (IPPs) and aviation fuel deposit facility.

    Dunoma explained that for third party businesses, FAAN provided land or developed aviation and non-aeronautical facilities in line with the agency’s commercial and investment policy on leases and rentals.

    He said: “It is easy to see why several factors work in our favour. FAAN offers an array of irresistible incentives and doing business with us has become a lot easier. We are investing heavily in the renewal and expansion of infrastructure at our airports with five international buildings nearing completion at Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kano and Enugu airports.

    “Our aim is to create capacity and promote excellent investment environment. With tourism growing in direct proportion to the  economy, international best practice regulatory policies in place and world class service delivery at our airports, we are poised for a significant growth in passenger traffic and therefore confident that investors, both local and foreign, would realise prompt and significant returns on their investments.”

    He said the industry contributes over $1 billion to the economy yearly and supports more that 150,000 jobs, thereby creating business opportunities for indigeneous and foreign investors.

    “In the interest of transparency, FAAN advertises all commercial concessions and infrastructural facilities and calls for bids for such concession/facilities from local and international investors,” Dunoma added.

    He said there was a link  among economic prosperity, population growth and airport, airline and tourism activities.

    “A number of indices can make FAAN and by extension tourism in Nigeria attractive and flourishing. Investors will find both the new and improved airports as well as Nigeria generally a haven for investment. We have stable democratic government, potentially popular tourist destination in a country of scenic beauty with airport connection in Cross River, Bauchi, Kwara, Osun, Plateau, Taraba and Adamawa states,” the FAAN boss said.

    “Over the years, FAAN has realised that the private sector must be engaged to develop and boost business at the airports. That is the way it is in other parts of the world. With this new strategy, it is hoped that in the coming years FAAN would earn more from nonaeronautical revenue sources than from aeronautical sources. This will prompt the agency to review downwards the aeronautical charges, which would invariably attract more airlines into the country,” he said.

    He said despite the decision of the Federal Government to concession airport facilities, the FAAN had  adopted the system of partnering with the private sector, a strategy that has gained traction about four years ago when the number of international airlines that operated into the country doubled.

    With the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport,Abuja and the Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano hosting more foreign carriers since 2012, FAAN has to boost its commercial offering to cater for the needs of increasing passenger traffic as it built more shops and other commercial facilities to attract investment from the private sector.

    This has boosted the non-aeronautical revenues of the agency,  expected to rise in the future as the country gears to increase its perishable goods export and as it is expected that passenger growth despite economic recession would rise by 15 percent by 2019.

    Dunoma said  more international airlines have added the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos to their long haul schedules, including one  from the USA, two from the Middle East, one from Far East and several regional airlines.

     

  • NDLEA arrests female pilgrim at Abuja airport

    NDLEA arrests female pilgrim at Abuja airport

     

    A 55 year old female pilgrim to Medina, Saudi Arabia has tested positive to narcotic ingestion at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja.

     

    She was immediately placed under observation by officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

     

    The suspect named Mrs. Binuyo Basira Iyabo who was on her way to perform the annual pilgrimage has so far excreted seventy-six (76) pellets of substances found to be cocaine.

    Binuyo Basira Iyabo
    Binuyo Basira Iyabo

    At the Murtalla Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Lagos, officials also intercepted a 37 year old father of three children for inserting seven wraps of cocaine weighing 355 grammes inside his anus. Both suspects were going to Saudi and China where drug trafficking is punishable by death.

    NDLEA commander at the Abuja airport, Hamisu Lawan said that the female suspect is still under observation until she expels all the ingested pellets of drugs.

    “Mrs. Binuyo was arrested during the outward screening of passengers on an Emirate flight to Medina through Dubai. She has so far excreted seventy-six (76) pellets of drugs that tested positive for cocaine. Meanwhile, she is still under observation until the drugs are completely expelled” Hamisu stated.

    Binuyo, a married woman with three children and a trader at Dosumu market, Lagos said she agreed to smuggle the drugs for a fee. “I am a trader in Lagos, married with three children. I wanted to expand my cosmetic business but I have no money. My sponsor offered to foot my expenses to Saudi on pilgrimage. I was excited until I was asked to take drugs along. I wanted to decline but considering the offer of a million naira, I accepted. I swallowed the drugs in Lagos and took flight to Abuja on my way to Medina but I was caught in the process” she stated.

    The other suspect was found to have inserted seven wraps of cocaine weighing 355 grammes inside his anus at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Lagos. He was apprehended during outward screening of passengers on an Ethiopian Airline flight to Hong Kong, China through Addis Ababa.

    NDLEA commander at the airport, Ahmadu Garba said that the suspect who hails from Imo State holds a dual citizenship of Nigeria and Mali.

    “An arrest has been made of a suspect travelling to Hong Kong, China. He hails from Imo State but was travelling with a Malian international passport. The name on his passport is Diara Sauduo while his Nigerian name is Okpalanem Henry. The case is under investigation” the commander stated.

    Diara Sauduo (a.k.a. Okpalanem Henry)
    Diara Sauduo (a.k.a. Okpalanem Henry)

    The suspect who expelled seven wraps of cocaine on his way to China where drug trafficking is punishable by death did not show any form of remorse. In his words, “I know that there is capital punishment for Drug trafficking in China but I was optimistic of safe passage. Unfortunately, I was caught with only seven wraps. Maybe that is my destiny. I am married with three children”.

    Chairman/Chief Executive of the Agency, Col. Muhammad Mustapha Abdallah (retd.) expressed satisfaction with the arrest stating that it is a product of diligence and vigilance.

     

    “The arrest of the suspects is commendable. We will continue to be on the alert in protecting all exit and entry points from drug trafficking organisations. I am glad that the suspects were arrested here thus preventing them from untimely death and also protecting the image of our country from disrepute” he stated.

    The NDLEA boss urged members of the public to join in the anti-narcotics campaign and avoid drug trafficking and other activities capable of undermining their good name and strong moral principles. He assured that investigation was ongoing in the reported arrest of Kwara pilgrim in Medina by Saudi authorities.

     

  • ‘Why we are not operating flights’

    ‘Why we are not operating flights’

    First Nation Airways on Thursday said it is not currently operating flights because of its Airbus 319 fleet is undergoing maintenance.

    The airline said its current operational challenges are attributable to the over 70 per cent devaluation of the Naira.

    According to a statement by the Head of Commercial, Serah Awogbade  said the aircraft maintenance will be completed by September 15, 2016.

    The statement reads: “First Nation is currently undergoing maintenance on A319 fleet.

    “This maintenance exercise will be completed on or before September 15th, 2016.

    “The Airline planned this maintenance action well ahead, notified passengers and flights are currently loaded online effective September 15th, 2016 – this will ensure that passengers continue to enjoy safe and reliable service that the airline is reputed for.

    “Current foreign exchange constraint coupled with over 70 per cent devaluation of Naira partly contributed in no small l measure to the development . The Airline’s plan remains on track to reinstating service as advised herein.

    “First Nation Airways is IATA IOSA certified and operates a fleet of Airbus A319.

    “The airline is aware of a Press re lease by NCAA and the Authority was formally informed by ourselves . At First Nation , Safety is our priority and we look forward to restating service shortly upon completion of current maintenance upgrade.”

  • AON decries agencies’ ‘high-handedness’

    AON decries agencies’ ‘high-handedness’

    Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) has called on service providers to “tread cautiously” in their move to recover what the airlines’ body has described as “phantom debt”.

    Its Executive Chairman, Captain Nogie Meggison, made this known in an interview.

    The umbrella body of domestic carriers says, if the agencies, such as Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) and Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), are not restrained in the strategy put in place to recover  the so-called debts, they may run operators out of business.

    NAMA said last week that it would withdraw air traffic advisory services to airlines that fail to comply with the debt recovery drive of the agency.

    NAMA said  it is taking such drastic step to whip domestic carriers into line because of the over N8. 1 billion owed it by domestic airlines, aerodrome operators as well as state governments running private airports.

    Meggison said similar measures by agencies in the past ran many airlines out of business because of ‘ridiculous billings’.

    He added: “We strongly decry the ongoing action by the various government agencies in the aviation sector, whereby they threaten to deny airlines services for their operations or completely ground them, as this is likely to force airlines out of business.”

    He said because of the economic recession, agencies see airlines as a cash cow to prey on.

    The agencies, he said, should realise that air transport is the engine of the economy.

    He said: “Hence, if they disturb  the airlines, they will damage the efforts of President Muhammadu Buhari to restore the economy.”

    He also said it was for the airlines that an agency like NAMA was created to provide navigational services, explaining that the catering firms, ground services providers, fuel marketers and other ancillary service providers around the airport are also existing because of the airlines.

    He continued: “Airlines work tirelessly to airlift Nigerians safely around the country. They are the bedrock of the oil and gas sector on which Nigeria depends a great deal, as well as promote the smooth, expeditious and efficient delivery of goods and services daily thereby facilitating businesses that are critical to the economic recovery of Nigeria.

    “Airlines thereby provide  jobs for all and sundry. And this means everybody else in the industry is making profit and surviving out of the airlines that are perpetually being undermined and milked dry daily. In the face of all this, airlines still have to pay multiple charges and taxation of all kinds to various government organs and are forced to pay for several inefficiencies and in some cases for services that are not provided, without value for money and with no one coming to their aid.

    “This kind of cruel hostility has stifled airlines in the past and is one of the issues responsible for many Nigerian airlines going out of business in the past 20 years, including Triax, Sosoliso, Air Nigeria, Premium Air Shuttle, Gas, Okada, Sahara, Oriental, Chanchangi, Savanah, Harco, Harka, Holtrade, Intercontinental, Skyline, Easylink, Chrome Air, Fresh Air, ADC, EAS, Virgin Nigeria.

    “The majority of these phantom debts are owed by airlines that are dead. Only airlines that are in operations can pay debts. If you deny services to the airlines how do you expect them to operate and make money to pay up their bills in the first place? There are better ways of doing things. Instead of forcing the airlines out of business by denying them access to fly or employing crude arm-twisting tactics, the agencies should be working closely with the airlines to reduce costs and make their operations more efficient,” he said.

    Meggison said, for instance, to make Accra a hub for aviation in the world, the Ghanaian government recently announced a cut in aviation fuel price by 20 per cent- equivalent of N110.

    He said: “Even if both countries are importing aviation fuel, why is Nigeria selling at N200 per litre as against in Ghana at N110?

    “But in Nigeria the opposite is the case. Rather than assist domestic airlines to bring down the price of Jet A1 and make it more available, the price has skyrocketed consistently from N105 in March to over N200,  thereby significantly raising the cost of operations to unbearable proportions in spite of our constant calls over the years for action in this regard.

    “Everyone knows that fuel alone accounts for about 40 per cent  of the operational cost of most airlines. And with the continuous increase in the price of Jet A1 amid the scarcity and epileptic supply of the product, the operational costs of domestic airlines have further grown astronomically thereby leading to about 50 per cent  flight delays and cancellations of scheduled flights for a day.

    “Because of the inefficiencies of the agencies, they have killed several airlines and are trying to stifle the few surviving ones to pay for their inefficiencies.”

    He noted that domestic airlines worldwide do not pay enroute charges.