There were many challenges in the sector’s march to full potential last year; 2019 promises to be better. Such optimism, experts say, is not unconnected with the readiness of regulators as well as operators to unfold new proposals aimed at boosting a regime of infrastructure upgrade, enforcement of stricter civil aviation regulations and a robust human capital development, writes KELVIN OSA OKUNBOR.
Optimism. This captures the hope of stakeholders in the industry in 2019.
Already, industry players, regulators, agencies, concessionaires and others are setting agenda that will shape the industry in the months to come.
Such expectations, experts say, are hinged on the several unaccomplished targets in the industry in 2018. One of such was the dashed hope of flagging off a national carrier, even after an elaborate process that saw the Minister of State Aviation, Hadi Sirika leading a delegation to Fanborough Air Show, in the United Kingdom to unveil the name and logo of the proposed carrier.
To ensure a successful aviation year, experts insist that the sector should be driven on the wheels of policy reforms, sound regulatory framework and operating environment, as well as concerted efforts to consolidate on massive infrastructure upgrade, which should not be limited to airport and air navigation equipment alone.
In particular, stakeholders want the government to focus on replacement of aeronautical facilities to promote flight safety.
Robust civil aviation regulations
A major area experts want the government to focus in 2019 is to entrench strict enforcement of civil aviation regulations by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) on both scheduled and unscheduled airlines. Such clamour, they said, is predicated on the rise in the number of incidents involving operators, which recently came under the hammer of the regulator.
They said the NCAA may have gone to sleep in the discharge of its oversight duties concerning both technical and economic audit of airlines.
In an interview, a member of Aviation Round Table and Centurion Securities Chief Executive Officer Group Captain John Ojikutu (rtd) said the NCAA should step up its game.
He said there was the need to overhaul the authority to make it alive to its duties.
He said if the NCAA is more active in 2019, reports of incidents and accidents would be reduced.
Besides Ojikutu, other experts including Managing Director Sabtre Travel Solutions Gbenga Olowo, said the sector would instill more confidence if the regulator has a bite, rather than issuing a string of regulations for operators to comply.
Uncompleted airport terminals
On the infrastructure front, stakeholders say the government should accelerate the completion of some international airport terminals in Lagos, Enugu and Kano.
The timely completion of these terminals funded by the $500 million loan provided by the Chinese Import-Export Bank will bridge the gap in airport infrastructure.
In particular, they said the completion of these facilities will not only put Nigeria in the league of nations with modern airport infrastructure, but will make air travel seamless, safe and comfortable.
The Association of Nigerian Aviation Professionals (ANAP) General Secretary, Comrade Abdulrasaq Siedu, said the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) should ensure that the terminals were completed in time before the government paid back the loan.
Industry watchers said the timely completion of the new International Terminal at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos would resolve challenges of congestion in the existing terminal, which is overstretched after many decades.
The agitation to complete the new terminal aligns with many years of clamour by groups and experts who have argued that the existing terminals are almost outliving their usefulness. They were inaugurated 40 years ago.
Experts say the completion of the new international terminal will not only facilitate the pursuit of a hub status for Nigeria in West and Central Africa, but position the country as a transit airport into other countries.
Infrastructure revolution
In an interview, Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) Executive Chairman, Captain Nogie Meggison said for Nigeria to become a hub in Africa, the government must pursue an aggressive infrastructure revolution to make its airports attractive to airlines, passengers and other investors who are keen to invest in the sector.
Meggison said it would not be out of place for the government in 2019 to complete the new international airport terminal in Lagos to compete with the new terminal at the Kotoka International Airport in Accra, Ghana.
Also, Air Peace Chairman Allen Onyema said the government should not only complete international airport terminals undergoing construction, but invest in airports to enable them attract airlines.
Onyema said FAAN should focus on expanding check-in and screening facilities at the General Aviation Terminals (GAT) at the domestic wing of the Lagos Airport to reduce the burden airlines and passengers’experience.
Besides, he said the aeronautical agencies, including FAAN and Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), should improve on the provision of air-field lighting system and other flight navigation facilities at the airports to enable airlines utilise their aircraft maximally.
Unviable Airports
To advance beyond what experts call the triangular routes – Lagos – Abuja and Port Harcourt – stakeholders say FAAN and NCAA should, as a matter of urgency, put policies in place in 2019 to attract airlines to flying into many unviable airports.
These are aerodromes with limited flights, either for poor landing facilities or low passenger patronage.
Part of the strategies to achieve this year, they said, should include but not limited to, waivers on landing and parking fees for aircraft and lower taxes and charges for operators that find them suitable to fly into.
Among this legion of aerodromes are airports built and managed by state governments. They are: Asaba, Kebbi, Dutse, Katsina, Bauchi, Uyo and Jalingo.
Abandoned cargo terminals
Significantly, experts say the government should focus energy on abandoned cargo airport terminals conceived in 2011 under the President Goodluck Jonathan administration.
These projects, which have since been abandoned, were conceived to boost the non-oil sector as a huge foreign exchange spinner.
The proposed perishable cargo terminals were earmarked for Abuja, Akure, Calabar, Ilorin, Jalingo, Jos, Kano, Lagos, Makurdi, Minna, Owerri, Port Harcourt and Uyo.
These airports, which are in proximity to food baskets, were supposed to be developed with international standard perishable cargo facilities to enhance their operations.
If the government accords priority to these projects, it will position Nigeria to key into the over N250 billion yearly air freight export market in Africa.
Experts said this would put Nigeria on the same pedestal with countries, such as Kenya, South Africa, Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Senegal, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Egypt, which are trading in commodities, including fruits, fresh fish, vegetables and flowers.
A cargo expert, Herbert Udenka told The Nation that there was the need to adopt a strategy to tackle the problem. “The strategy is, therefore, to create the much-needed storage infrastructure in view of the large volume involved and to facilitate the evacuation of agricultural produce to domestic markets in conformity with international standards.
“The development of Economic Free Trade and Export Processing Zones will be targeted alongside cargo airports and agro-allied industrial clusters, based on local opportunities and the state’s competitive and comparative advantage in agriculture production.
“The aviation sector is establishing closer co-operation with Federal Ministry of Agriculture and state governments for concerted and strategic focus to these efforts.”
Labour controversies/industrial harmony
To advance the sector, experts said stakeholders must deepen the processes of resolving lingering labour controversies through arbitration to achieve industrial harmony.
Without such harmony, the desired attraction of private sector investment could be lost, as capital does not stay in an environment of industrial unrest.
In particular, experts caution that frequent threats by aviation unions to shut down the airspace should be properly managed and affected organisations think out of the box to resolve lingering impasse in 2019.
Notably, is the altercation among unions, some concessionaires, helicopter and ground handling firms.
Experts say, FAAN and NCAA must evolve measures to douse the palpable tension in the sector, where infractions between operators, agencies and other firms throw the industry into confusion; sometimes threatening safety and security.
Ground handling companies
Though very few, the ground handling firms – Skyways Aviation Handling Company (SAHCO) Plc and Nigerian Aviation Company (NAHCO ), Aviance Plc – should consider rejigging their tariff structure and operational architecture to attract more clients at a time airlines and freight operators were grappling with a myriad of challenges.
In the year, operators and watchers in the air cargo sub-sector look forward to automation of revenue for cargo processing and other strategies to make their operations viable.
Besides, diversification, which the new NAHCO Plc Managing Director, Mrs Tokunbo Fagbemi, is mulling over, there is an urgent need for players in the cargo, passenger and ground handling business to adopt a technology that will block leakages and improve efficiency to enable them remain in the business.