The Nation Newspaper

Category: Aviation

  • ‘Air freight of agric produce could hit $350b in 10 years’ 

    Managing Director of ABX World Limited, Captain John Okakpu has said Nigeria can process agricultural produce  worth over $350 billion for export through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in the next 10 years.

    Okakpu said facility providers at the airport were already bracing towards the projection, given the measures being put in place

    He said the projection was based on agricultural export initiatives put in place by some state governments.

    In an interview in Lagos last week, the pilot turned agricultural export promoter, said considering the level of success and acceptance of Nigeria’s agricultural produce exported to Europe in the year, there is ample evidence that in the next 10 years the country could net over $350 billion from such activity.

    Citing some state governments, he said last October, the Anambra State Government in partnership with ABX World, exported the first agriculture produce from its revolution project, which started last year, to Europe.

    The products, which were exported through the cargo section of Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, included yams, potatoes, pineapples, okro, pumpkin leaves, and bitter-leaf.

    Okakpu  said huge success was recorded this year in terms of agricultural export which used to be the main stay of Nigeria’s economy.

    He explained that Nigeria farmers, particularly those from Anambra, have keyed into the new agricultural revolution going on in Nigeria.

    He said: “This year has been very remarkable in terms of agricultural export. Agriculture used to be the main stay of Nigeria’s economy. I thank God for the knowledge we have been able to pass on to the farmers and the awareness we have created. Please I enjoin Nigerians to come with me and let us move to where we belong.”

    He added: ”Next year is going to be remarkable. Though there are little issues to be resolved by the government, there are still some agriculture products that are still under ban list by the Federal government. I am happy that the National Assembly is reviewing some of the laws governing exportation of agriculture produce.”

    On international acceptability of Nigeria’s produce, Okakpu said: “The market has already accepted our products. What we did early last year was to take it to them for test to see if it is acceptable. Now we have gone through the process of certification of the farmers because everything about food in Europe and any part of the world is safety. Global Gap is the network that controls all the supermarkets in the North America and Europe and once you have their certification, the market is guaranteed.”

    He appealed to the Federal Government to assist farmers to obtain single digit interest loans and provide the necessary logistics to make farming attractive to young Nigerians, adding that the nation is yet to tap half of its agricultural potential.

  • How to create jobs for pilots, by NCAT rector

    How to create jobs for pilots, by NCAT rector

    The development of general aviation will create jobs for some of the over 300 unemployed pilots, Rector, Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Captain Abdulsalami Mohammed has said.

    General aviation is the operation of private and business jets by individuals and organisations not involved in scheduled flights.

    Mohammed, who spoke in Abuja, urged young pilots to begin their career with light airplanes until they acquire experience, encouraging them to start with general aviation as it is the perfect training ground.

    According to regulatory requirement, pilots for general aviation require about 250 flight hours to operate such aircraft.

    The NCAT boss said pilots  needed to continue flying to garner enough experience to enable them become employable by commercial airlines.

    He, however, noted that training pilots is a huge burden on airlines, especially as many of them leave for greener pastures later.

    His words: “This is the issue the ministry and airline operators are discussing; it is receiving government’s attention, but NCAT cannot get involved in seeking jobs for its graduates. We are a training institution. We can train people, we can give references when you finish, but we cannot get involved in getting jobs for our graduates.

    “Some of them go into general aviation and fly light and medium aircraft to gain experience before they eventually qualify to go for Airline Transport Pilot License (ATPL), before they can join commercial airlines. This is the practice in the United States and elsewhere,” he said.

    He continued:“Unfortunately for us, every pilot that comes out wants to fly big jets; it is more glamorous to fly passenger jets, but the airlines cannot absorb everybody. If you recall, when Virgin Nigeria was set up in 2005, virtually every pilot in Nigeria applied to Virgin Nigeria. I was one of them and Virgin Nigeria was able to pick whoever they wanted and retrained them completely regardless of the background.”

    He said a few years after Virgin Nigeria, Arik came on board and employed some pilots that couldn’t secure jobs in Virgin Nigeria.

    Mohammed said more airlines came on board and that was when the industry started recovering including the rapid development of Arik with over 30 aircraft at a time, mopping up experienced pilots that had been in the industry.

    The situation, he said, forced other airlines to look elsewhere and that was when they started employing the young inexperienced pilots and began training them.

    He, however, warned on the cost of training a fresher from the college on a jet, explaining that pilots are trained through trial by fire and that it would be a humongous mistake to train a young pilot with an aircraft having hundreds of passengers.

    “But when you now have 100 sometimes 300 passengers sitting in the back and you have someone in training, you don’t want him to make mistakes; otherwise those passengers may never fly with that airline again. So, it is not the ideal training environment. So, you find that the training takes too long and it is expensive and at the end of the day the airline says ‘this man is not trainable’ and they stop training – that is why a lot of airlines are reluctant to start bringing people.”

    Mohammed also said the planned establishment of a national carrier would also help create employment due to migration of the experienced pilots creating openings in their present positions for young pilots.

    “The creation of a national carrier will also create employment opportunities for these young men. I am not saying that the national carrier will employ all of them immediately, but you find out that a lot of our experienced pilots – when the national carrier is coming, they will leave where they are and try to join the carrier, thereby leaving openings for these young people.”

  • NAHCO boss urges employees on attitude

    The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc (NAHCO Aviance), Mr. Idris Yakubu, has promised to drive attitudinal change among the employees to move the company to the next level.

    Speaking at his maiden meeting with workers at the company’s head office, Yakubu said the company required a new and stronger service culture. He added that he was prepared to lead the change.

    He said: “We are looking forward to a positive change. You need to improve the areas that you can improve, and we must work together to effect the change. Some of the things required are little but they are very important.

    “It is important to understand that we have a lot of work to do to reposition the company and I cannot do it alone. We have to win back our customers and reinforce the positive perception that our stakeholders have of NAHCO. The management of the company is focused on recovering lost grounds and would make a renewed drive for excellence in all its activities its watchword.”

    Yakubu said the era of workers taking things for granted was over. They would be held accountable for their “actions or inactions,”he said adding: “If you deliberately commit an error that the company has to pay for, then maybe you should pay. NAHCO’s business should be regarded as our business and we must all take ownership.”

    He applauded the promotion  undertaken by the company, which he described as “unparalleled in the industry,” and said it was not in his character to lead a demotivated workforce.

    Pointing out that he made some input into the final promotion list, Yakubu said his desire was to do more as staffers become more productive and show greater diligence in their work, resulting in greater and improved performance by the company.

    He solicited for the support of staff in the effort to move nahco aviance forward, adding “We must work together to increase revenues, reduce and optimise our costs and exceed our customers’ expectations. Let the world know that NAHCO is the best in its service and product offerings.”

    He concluded that the Company will focus on aggressive debt recovery with a sizeable chunk of the recovered funds invested in acquiring new equipment.

    The Chairman of the Board of the Company, Arc Usman Arabi Bello, who made a brief stop-over at the Head Office while the meeting was in session, urged the staff to support the MD/CEO.

    He encouraged staff to support Yakubu and come up with new ideas to improve things in the Company. Bello pointed out nonetheless, that without any doubt, Yakubu is the new boss and that “The Boss is the boss.”

    Idris Yakubu was appointed Friday, November, 3 2017, but formally took over duties at the NAHCO House on November, 20 2017.

    He had since taking over visited operational areas in the Lagos MMIA area and other units of the company to meet with staff

  • AIB releases 10 final accident reports

    The Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) has released 10 final accident reports  and 35 safety recommendations out of the 117 safety recommendations made in the 10-year existence of the bureau.

    Its Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer, Akin Olateru, told reporters in Lagos  that 30 per cent of the backlog of pending accident reports were completed this year.

    Olateru’s announcement came with the AIB’s launch of an application to ease reporting of serious incidents and accidents by pilots, passengers, industry players and the public.

    According to him, four of the final accident reports involved aircraft and helicopters belonging to AeroContractors, Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria; International Aviation College (AIC) Ilorin and Gitto Construction Engineering Company, adding that additional six final accident reports would be released by the first quarter of next year.

    Olateru said the AIB had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with some African countries to assist in accident investigation as the leading agency in West and Central Africa.

    He said the AIB was partnering the United Kingdom Accident Investigation Authority and the National Safety Transportation Board ( NTSB) on ways to review its operations to enable it handle intermodal accident probe.

    Olateru said by next year the backlog of pending accident investigation would have been completed to enable the bureau focus on safety standards

    He said despite limitations in the discharge of its duties, AIB was collaborating with the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) on the implementation of safety recommendations.

    He said the collaboration with the United Kingdom (UK) accident agency would put the AIB in good stead to discharge its statutory duties through a review of its systems, personnel and procedure.

    To achieve an effective accident investigation system, the AIB, Olateru said, will continue to improve on its equipment, infrastructure, human capital, systems and procedure.

    He said:” We are partnering many agencies across the globe to enable us handle multi modal accident investigation. Because of this, we have had several sessions to draw from the expertise of personnel of NTSB, the United Kingdom accident bureau authority as well as the Canadian accident investigation agency. We are tapping into their expertise to ensure we boost the capacity of the AIB.”

    On the benefits of the application, Olateru said it would help to move the bureau forward by using technology to ease accident reporting systems, processes and procedure in line with global standards.

    He said: ”The AIB application is a way of improving our procedures for reporting accidents using technology without filing the report on paper.

    “ It would save users the cumbersome systems we were hitherto using. It is not only convenient, it would improve our engagement with Nigerians and give easy access to the public on how the AIB operates.”

  • Air Peace connects Abuja-Uyo

    Air Peace said it will commence flights on the Abuja-Uyo -Abuja route on December 7.

    A statement by its Corporate Communications Manager, Mr Chris Iwarah, confirmed this.

    The new route, Air Peace said, will complement its Lagos-Uyo-Lagos service.

    The carrier said the new service was in response to the yearnings of air travellers for on-time, consistent and reliable flights on the Abuja-Uyo-Abuja route.

    Air Peace assured that its new flights will cater to the huge demand for air travel on the route in the run-up to Christmas, and give flyers the confidence to planning their schedules.

     

  • Medview set for Dubai flight

    MedView Airline has concluded arrangements for its December 7 inaugural flight to Dubai from Lagos via Abuja

    Its Chief Executive Officer, Alhaji Muneer Bankole, who, at the weekend commended the Ministry of Aviation, parastatals, travel agencies and passengers, who keyed into the airline’s inaugural flight, assured that the carrier was committed to dedicated service on the route.

    He said the airline’s package for tourists to Dubai included air fare, visa, accommodation and tour guides at reasonable rates, adding that there are various packages for traders and business travellers.

    Bankole said Economy passengers would enjoy a two – piece baggage allowance of 25 kg each, while Business Class has three pieces.

    Activities lined up for the inaugural flight include a brief ceremony at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport and in Dubai. The airline will host the business and the diplomatic communities to a dinner.

    The airline has three weekly flights originating from Lagos via Abuja to Dubai on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays .

  • DANA Air named carrier for festival

    Dana Air is the official airline of the Akwa Ibom Christmas Carols Festival, scheduled to hold December 22 at the Uyo Township Stadium, Akwa Ibom State.

    The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Culture and Tourism and co-ordinator of the festival, Mr Aniekpeno Mkpanang, made this known to newsmen in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital.

    ‘The Akwa Ibom Christmas Carols Festival is one of the biggest and well-attended festivals in the world and we are expecting over 20,000 artistes and visitors to fly in from other parts of the country, Africa and the world, hence, the need to join ranks and partner one of the most consistent airlines in Nigeria right now to ensure a hitch-free, hassle free, seamless, and on-time travel for all our passengers and visitors,” he said.

    The Communications Manager of Dana Air, Mr Kingsley Ezenwa, while commenting on the partnership said, “We have been flying to Uyo for over five years now, supporting the economic activities in the state and providing the best of air transport services with convenient fares to the good people of Akwa Ibom State.

    We are excited about the choice of Dana Air as the Official Airline of the Akwa Ibom Christmas Carols Festival 2017 and we assure the organizers and the State Government of our full commitment.’’

  • ‘Osun International Airport ’ll stimulate economic growth’

    ‘Osun International Airport ’ll stimulate economic growth’

    The construction of the MKO Abiola International Airport in Ido-Osun, Osun State, will turn around the state’s economic prospect and industrial base, the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Dr. Bashiru Ajibola, has said.

    According to Ajibola, the concessionaire of the project, which is under construction, is All Works of Life (AWOL) International Limited,

    He said it is part of the interventions of Rauf Aregbesola-led administration enclosed in the Blue Book that focuses on the six integral action plans.

    Ajibola said the blue book has served as a compass in guiding the seven-year-old administration to address challenges related to banishing hunger, unemployment and poverty from the state.

    Ajibola said the 3.5 kilometre airport runway has attained 85 per cent completion with other support facilities that would create a good ambience for aircraft maintenance services and hangar.

    He said facilities under construction at the proposed airport could only be compared to those in Johannesburg, in South Africa, and Ethiopia.

    The airport, Ajibola said, will be unique because of its ability to handle haulage and cargo shipment.

    On the economic implication of the project, he said: “five -10 percent of the N69billion earmarked will find its way into the economy of the state through direct engagement of skilled and unskilled workers by the concessionaire.

    “It will galvanise our local economy, not to forget the fact that the access road to the international airport will be a dual carriageway, thereby improving the road infrastructure, which will be a value booster for property and structures in the axis.

    “Over time, the offices of statistics and economic planning have been engaged in monitoring the direct and indirect benefits of all our interventions with special cognisance to a reduction in unemployment ratio and attendant economic effect. The reports computed have always been positive and encouraging.”

    According toAjibola, besides the construction of an international airport in the state, the administration has embarked on other infrastructure intervention by facilitating the movement of indigenes through rail.

    He said the government has spent N3.5 billion to re- construct the runway of the abandoned aerodrome  used for airlifting military personnel during the Second World War.

    The governor, he said,  has adopted creative ingenuity in the financing of the airport project by opting for the Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) model by engaging a concessionaire.

    The concessionaire, Ajibola said, is carrying out the project in collaboration with the Turkish Government.

    He said:”This is the reason the governor adopted a creative financing model to demonstrate his ingenuity in assisting Osun people. This explains why the BOT model was adopted by engaging AWOL. This  is done in collaboration with the Turkish Government, wherein 85 per cent of the N69 billion will be sourced from them.”

    Ajibola said the whole idea was to cement the export and import partnership development and trade arrangement for technological and expertise contribution of the Turkish Government to Africa using the State of Osun as a standard template for its materialisation.

    “The basic essentials of the airport, which are the runway, control tower, terminal building, aviation equipment, regulatory interphase with the Federal Government will be perfected such that a Boeing 747 will taxi from the MKO Abiola International Airport in eight months time,”he said.

  • DANA Air gets IATA membership certificate

    DANA Air has received its membership certificate from the International Air Transport Association ( IATA).

    The airline has assured passengers of its commitment to raising the bar of its operational efficiency with an airline model that guarantees sustainability and professionalism in the industry.

    Dana Air Accountable Manager Mr Obi Mbanuzuo made this known last week, during the presentation of the certificate to the airline in Lagos.

    He said the airline would continue to maintain global best practices while still churning out world-class  initiatives to exceed the flying aspirations of its ever-increasing membership of its loyalty programme – Dana Miles.

    He said: “Since becoming an IATA member, we have received a barrage of requests for interline and code-share agreements and we can’t wait to take our unrivaled services in Nigeria to the global stage.

    “DANA  Air remains uncompromising in its commitment to maintaining global best practices and as always, we will continue to churn out world-class initiatives to meet and exceed the flying aspirations of our teeming passengers .’’

    On the airlines’ fleet and route expansion plans, Obi said: ‘’Our decisions are strategic and it is very difficult to forecast in this part of the world, but I can confirm to you that we have commenced talks with some notable aircraft manufacturers and we should increase our fleet in no distant time. Even with our current capacity, we are doing very well and have a strategy to meet the demands of the flying public.’’

    He said Dana was very confident of its model as presently, adding that it is the only Nigerian carrier to have undergone an operational audit conducted by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), and its foreign partners, The Flight Safety Group.

    “We also scaled the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) and we wish to assure our guests that we are not resting on our oars as our commitment to professionalism is unwavering,’’Obi added.

    Also speaking at the event, IATA’s Area Manager, South-West, Dr Samson Fatokun, said not all airlines are members of IATA as a result of its stringent admission process but commended Dana Air for making the list and joining over 300 airlines presently on the association’s registry.

    “We have requirements for any airline that wants to join the  to the IATA family  and one of that requirement is that they must pass the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) and this has kept most of them back.  IATA comes with a requirement of quality and people expect the airline to operate with recommended standards of aviation globally. We commend Dana Air for this feat and hope that they will keep up the good work’’

  • Allied Air not taken over by SAHCOL

    The Skyway Aviation handling Company Limited (SAHCOL) has not taken over the operations of Allied Air as contained in some reports last week.

    SAHCOL’s spokesperson Basil Agboarumi said the report was not correct.

    In statement at the weekend, Agboarumi said: “Some recent report with the headline:  “SAHCOL takes over Allied Air”, is not correct.

    “The true situation is that SAHCOL has won the Ground Handling Contract of the Allied Air flight operations in Nigeria.

    “By this contract, SAHCOL  shall now be providing ramp and cargo handling services to Allied Air Operations in Nigeria.

    “This further shows that SAHCOL has successfully established a very strong market presence in the domestic  and international  aviation industry with an unrivaled delivery of exceptional passenger, ramp and cargo/warehousing services. Which is evidenced by the number of airlines that have recently moved from the competitor to SAHCOL.”