A harvest of controversies dotted the aviation landscape as 2022 taxis to its end. Lingering litigation over airport concession procedures, modalities for selecting Nigeria Air’s technical partner, disappearance and re- emergence of some local carriers , spat over bilateral air ties between Nigeria and United Arab Emirates shaped developments in the year under review. But, it was not all a sordid narrative, the sector also broke new grounds attracting additional local carriers with the opening of a new international terminal at the Lagos Airport, transformation of the accident probe body into a multi-modal investigative agency amid other strides, writes KELVIN OSA-OKUNBOR.
Players, regulators and watchers of the aviation sector will not forget 2022 in a hurry. Reason: the industry witnessed a fair share of conflict, crises and controversy.
As the year closes in the next 12 days, events and activities that shaped developments in the sector continue to elicit commentary from analysts, operators and stakeholders alike.
The industry’s landscape in the year under review was laced with sufficient land mines for its regulators, parent ministry and other players connected to air transportation.
Though an accident free year, some carriers in the year under review experienced unsavoury developments that turned the eye of the regulator on their activities. A case in point is the series of serious incidents involving DANA Air, which culminated in the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), suspending the Air Transport Licence (ATL) and Air Operators Certificate (AOC) of the carrier.
Speaking in an interview, the Director-General of NCAA, Captain Musa Nuhu said the regulator in July suspended the operations of Dana Air’s Transport License (ATL) and Air Operator Certificate (AOC) indefinitely because of the outcome of a Financial and Economic Health Audit and a Technical Safety Audit carried out on the airline’s flight operations.
Though the regulator received backlash over the decision, its Director General, said it remained focused on its statutory safety responsibility to the flying public and the industry.
He said the airline would remain grounded until all the identified issues were resolved in compliance with Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig.CARs).
The outcome of the two audits carried out on DANA Air revealed a weak financial position and grave violations of Nig.CARs,
In what may appear as a dramatic twist, the carrier returned to flight operations four months after it met the conditions set by the regulator.
As if the travails of DANA Air was not enough drama for the air transport sector, oldest indigenous carrier – Aero Contractors Airlines also zoomed into the radar in the year under review by suspending its flight operations citing sundry operational and related challenges.
Announcing its decision to suspend flights temporarily, its former Managing Director, Captain Abdulahi Mahmood on July 18, 2022 said the action would become effective Wednesday , July 20, 2022.
The airline said the situation was made worse as some of its aircraft were undergoing maintenance and we’re unavailable for use.
“Due to the impact of the challenging operating environment on our daily operations, the management of Aero Contractors Company Nig. Ltd. wishes to announce the temporary suspension of its scheduled passenger service operations with effect from Wednesday, July 20, 2022.
However, the airline said its decision does not affect its maintenance and training services, as well as helicopter and charter operations.
“The decision was carefully considered and taken due to the fact that most of our aircraft are currently undergoing maintenance, resulting in our inability to offer a seamless and efficient service to our esteemed customers,” it said.
“We are working to bring these aircraft back to service in the next few weeks, so we can continue to offer our passengers the safe, efficient, and reliable services that Aero Contractors is known for, which is the hallmark of Aero Contractors Company of Nig. Ltd,” the airline said.
According to the airline, the past few months have been very challenging for the aviation industry due to the high cost of maintenance, fuel, inflation and forex scarcity resulting in high foreign exchange rates, which are amongst the major components of airline operations.
But, the carrier broke the ice when it returned to flight operations some months later.
But, its return was not without dramatic changes in its management and operational structure.
Returning with its former Managing Director, Captain Ado Sanusi, who had exited to prepare the ground for another carrier – NG Eagle Airlines , but the project never hit the skies said the oldest carrier returned to service learning useful lessons.
He said Aero Contractors, Nigeria’s oldest airline, past failures will not be repeated as scheduled services resumed December 5, 2022.
Sanusi said having satisfied regulatory requirements, Aero Contractors received approval from the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authorities (NCAA) to commence operations.
He noted that the airline has employed Charles Grant as its new chief finance officer (CFO) and will be run by a new management.
“The airline will be operating with Boeing 737 and dash 8 (Q-400) servicing ten destinations. These destinations include; Warri, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Abuja, Benin, Yola, Sokoto, Kano, Asaba and Calabar,” Sanusi said.
“The airline has three business units, namely, the maintenance repair and overhaul (MRO), the fixed and rotary wing airline operation and training.”
Sanusi, also Aero Contractors managing director, said the resumption means that more products will be churned out to cater for the flying public who have “had a lot of hardship due to capacity reduction in the airline industry, which has resulted in price increase”.
He said the company would like to see that it stabilises the market as it would bring a lot of capacity into the system, especially during the Christmas season.
“We believe with the hardship that Nigerians are going through, we should be able to provide a good way of transporting people to their loved ones at a very affordable rate,” Sanusi said.
“We are pleased and delighted to return to services after a few months. We are determined to offer a great travel experience to our customers during this season and beyond.”
Speaking on steps taken to sustain operations and prevent future sanctions by the NCAA, Sanusi said the airline had conducted a study on previous events that led to its suspension.
This, he said, was why it took longer for services to recommence.
“We believe and we are confident that the mistakes of the past will not repeat itself. We have looked at what actually caused the failures of the past and we are very determined not to repeat the same mistakes or to expect the same results,” Sanusi said.
On his part, Grant said the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) was “fully committed to returning Aero Contractors back to the skies”.
He said the corporation would ensure that the airline receives the necessary support for sustained services.
“They have very robust qualified teams working within AMCON, ensuring that Aero receives the necessary funding it requires, ensuring that Aero receives the necessary technical support it requires,” he said.
“And we’re confident that with the support of both AMCON, the staff, and the larger aviation sector, we’ll be able to deliver services that are not just meeting the market, exceeding expectation, with the competence and capacity of our management team, we will also be minimizing and mitigating inefficiencies and driving up efficiency, increasing the value we’re offering to the market.”
In the year under review, the desire by the Federal Government to establish a national carrier generated enough controversies yet to be resolved following the announcement of Ethiopian Airlines as the selected bidder / core investor in the crisis – ridden project.
Besides the opaque nature of the transaction that threw up African carrier – Ethiopian Airlines many industry analysts and the umbrella body of indigenous carriers faulted the government for giving away its national patrimony.
To demonstrate its opposition to the project, Air Peace, AZMAN Air, Top Brass Aviation and other interested parties filed a suit at the Federal High Court, Lagos to stop the take-off of the airline. The court had since issued an Order of Interim Injunction to prevent the project from taking off.
Part of the issuers that dominated in the headlines in the course of the year is the raging controversies over foreign carriers’ trapped funds in Nigeria running into millions of dollars.
To express its outrage, global airlines’ regulator, International Air Transport Association (IATA), has urged the Nigerian Government to release the funds to make it easy for foreign carriers to transact business in Nigeria.
Speaking in an interview, IATA’s Director-General and Chief Executive Officer, Mr Willie Walsh described the development as one of the lowest moments in the air transport value chain in the globe.
Aside, the IATA boss, industry players, including the President of Aviation Safety Round Table Initiative (ASRTI), Dr. Gbenga Olowo, described it as a great disincentive for carriers carrying out business in Nigeria.
Another industry player, Chief John Adebanjo said it is immoral for the Federal Government to withhold funds of airlines doing business in the country.
In the year under review, Nigeria was thrust on the burner with its diplomatic row with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), over the reduction of traffic rights to Emirates Airlines into Nigeria.
The frequency of the UAE carrier was reduced from 21 weekly flights to seven. Riding on the row, the carrier announced the suspension of its flight operations into Nigeria over trapped funds and other negative developments.
In the year under review, Air Peace also suspended flights into Dubai and South African for sundry reasons.
Experts say the year was not entirely a bad narrative for the aviation sector as President Muhamadu Buhari inaugurated the new international terminal of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
The new edifice, which has redefined the narrative for infrastructure development in the aviation sector, offers a different ambience for passengers travelling into and out of the Lagos Airport.
Speaking on the impact of the infrastructure, Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika said the new terminal is part of the Aviation RoadMap project of the government for the sector.
On the infrastructure front, 2022 has harvested a lot of strides in the air transport sector as some state governments deepened their participation in the sector.
Ekiti State Government completed and inaugurated flights at its Passenger/Cargo Airport Terminal in its capital, Ado Ekiti, while Ogun State made inroads into the sector with its construction of the Gateway Agro Cargo International Airport in Ilasan Remo.
The hybrid airport – also known as Aerotropolis – is the fastest airport terminal to be constructed by any supranational entity in the country.
Speaking on the project, Ogun State commissioners for Works and Infrastructure , Information and Strategy – Messrs Ade Akinsanta and Abdulwaheed Odusile described the projects as a worthy gift for people of the Gateway State for the year.
Besides, creating additional value to the state’s economic development, they said it would put Ogun State in the logistic map.
As the year navigates its bend to the end, the transformation of the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB), would not be left out as the probe body transforms into a multi – modal accident body.
Following the new NSIB Act 2022 signed by President Muhammed Buhari last week, the former AIB has assumed a new nomenclature of the National Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB).
Many key players who reacted to the development have attributed the resolve by the government to make the move a reality to the exemplary performance of the present management of the AIB in its ability to not only investigate causes of many past crashes and the ones that happened under the present administration, but equally gained international recognitions from around the world.
In his reaction, the retired Managing Director of the United States’ National Transportation Safety Bureau (NTSB), Mr Dennis Jones described the achievements under the AIB-led management of Akin Olateru as extraordinary.
The security expert, Group Captain John Ojikutu, retired, declared: “AIB-N is NSIB, may I hereby ask; will the NSIB still remain within the Ministry of Aviation? Will the Ministry of Aviation continue to remain outside the Ministry of Transportation?
“We better begin now to start thinking of which Ministry is appropriate for it before we compound further the existing economic problems of Aviation. I have suggested once that NIMET as an environmental service provider should be domiciled in the ministry of environment and the NSIB, like the petroleum transition pipelines and power transmission lines be included in the Bill before the NASS, and be made autonomous.”
As the year winds to a close, the contention over the concession of four international airport terminals in Lagos , Abuja, Port Harcourt and Kano is yet to be laid to rest.
Though they were announced by the Ministry of Aviation for three of the terminals, parties not satisfied with the criteria both preferred and reserved bidders have gone to court to challenge the action.Such ugly arrangement, industry watchers say have cast a huge doubt on the transparency of the exercise.
Though the Ministry of Aviation had organised a tour to Europe for aviation union representatives to get their buy -in for the concession of airports, feelers from aviation workers suggest the project may not fly.
As the year winds down, aviation unions have vowed to resist the implementation of the Aviation Road Map which will involve the demolition of headquarters of some of the agencies.
Significant achievements for the year under review include the commencement of a new carrier – Value Jets , which has changed the operating landscape with lower fares and the issuance of Air Transport License to another fledging operator Rano Air set to alter the stakes in the air transport value chain.
On the airspace front, a review of activities in the industry would not be complete without x- raying a major leap seeing to the deployment of multilateration technology for low flying helicopters in the Niger Delta Region.
The move by the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), in the year under review, will not only generate revenue for the agency , but assist in capturing low flying helicopters involved in oil and gas and mining activities across the country. Experts say it is the icing of the cake for air navigation and surveillance for the aviation sector, which has been on the burner for many years
