The Nation Newspaper

Tag: aircraft

  • Nigeria, Indonesia sign pact on airlines, aircraft maintenance

    Nigeria, Indonesia sign pact on airlines, aircraft maintenance

    Nigeria and Indonesia on Sunday signed multi-billion naira long-term agreements on airlines and aircraft maintenance.

    This is coming as the bilateral trade volume between the countries hits $2.2 billion.

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the agreement and contracts are between GMF Aeroasia, Indonesia with its Nigerian counterparts, including Kabo Air, Silverback Africa, Hak Air, Max Air and Service Air Limited.

    Other trade agreements were between the Nigerian Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, (NACCIMA) and the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

    The Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, in his remarks, said the agreement would strengthen trade and investment relations between the two countries.

    The minister also sought the cooperation of Indonesian in the area of power, infrastructure, agriculture, ICT and banking.

    He said Nigeria, with a population of over 160 million people, was blessed with human, minerals resources and a market advantage because of its strategic location in Africa.

    He said that Nigeria had a strong industrial base and efficient services sector.

    He said the trade volume between the countries was over two billion dollars, adding that the countries would work together to double the trade volume by 2015.

    The Indonesian Minister of Trade, Mr. Gita Wirjawan, promised Indonesia’s readiness to partner with Nigeria in the key sectors of the Nigerian economy.

    Wirjawan stressed the need for the Nigerian Government to move up its value chain, especially in the agricultural sector.

     

  • 60 disused aircraft may fetch N4.8b on conversion

    60 disused aircraft may fetch N4.8b on conversion

    ABOUT N4.8 billion may be made from the 60 aircraft abandoned at eight airports in the country after their dismantling and conversion into aluminium, investigations reveal.

    When converted into aluminium, each aircraft scrap would sell for a mere N800,000.

    The amount falls short of its value if the plane is repaired and returned into flight operations. But most of the parts in the airplane apart from the ban on their type in the Nigerian airspace, have also outlived their life cycle.

    The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) last week started the dismantling of the abandoned aircraft at some major airports with the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport , Abuja and Benin Airport accounting for the highest number of abandoned aircraft.

    The Logistics Manager of one of the contracting firms, AAYU Industries Limited in Kebbi State, Wing Commander Bashir Haruna (rid), engaged to dismantle the aircraft, said each aircraft scrap would sell for about N800,000.

    He explained that with 13 aircraft alone at the domestic wing of the Lagos Airport, the firm could get as much as 150 tonnes of aluminium from the aircraft after sending the materials to a rolling mill for conversion into roofing sheets, sliding aluminium doors and windows.

    He explained that though each aircraft in its serviceable state could cost as much as $40 million, it has to be sold for a mere N800,000 because it is now a scrap.

    He said after the dismantling, the firm would earn some money, which is part of the cost of engagement by FAAN.

    At the Lagos domestic airport, there are 13 of such aircraft and about 15 at Abuja and Benin airports.

    The General Manager, Corporate Communication, FAAN,Mr Yakubu Dati, said the company handling the dismantling was expected to finish its work in less than two weeks.

    He said after the completion of the contract in Lagos, another contractor would evacuate the abandoned aircraft in Abuja.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • ‘Nigeria needs aircraft maintenance hangar’

    Chief Executive Officer Belujane Konzults Mr Chris Aligbe has canvassed the setting up of a maintenance facility for aircraft repairs in the country.

    Aligbe said such a facility would reduce operating costs for domestic carriers that fly their planes overseas for major repairs.

    If the facility is established here, it would create jobs for the industry’s professionals, he said.

    Aligbe, a former spokesman of the liquidated Nigeria Airways Limited, said to make the project viable, the facilitators must adopt measures to sustain patronage for the project.

    He said: “A maintenance facility in Nigeria is long overdue. The government should facilitate the establishment of such a project, and ensure that the airlines have enough aircraft in their fleet to ensure that it is profitable.

    “If there are not enough aircraft to sustain the maintenance, repair and overhaul facility, it could be a failure. Above all, there must be competence in fleet and aircraft type to make it work.

    “One sure way of achieving this is the entrenchment of standardisation of fleet and line management to boost the competence of such a facility.”

    He affirmed that without standardisation of aircraft type, the industry could have issues with growth and development, as major aircraft repair facilities are driven by the development of competences in aircraft types.

    He said: “Most of the airlines in Nigeria do not have commonality of aircraft type to drive maintenance and repair overhaul facilities.”

  • More aircraft for Aviation College

    The Kwara State Government has said it will boost the fleet of its International Aviation College with additional 10 to 15 aircraft in the next three months.

    The aircraft are for the training of commercial pilots.

    Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed, who spoke in Ilorin, the state capital, said this was part of the medium-term strategy of his administration to promote socio-economic development and create high and medium-level manpower.

    He said the additional aircraft would enhance the capacity of the college to “a level where its impact would be felt in the state”.

    Ahmed said the Advanced Medical Diagnostic Centre in Ilorin would be completed.

    The centre, he noted, “boasts of sophisticated equipment, such as MRI, CT scan, fluoroscopy and state-of-the-art laboratories in such areas as Pathology, Microbiology and Haematology”.

    Ahmed said his administration’s Shared Prosperity Programme brought about the rehabilitation of about 15 water works, adding that the Ilorin water reticulation project would be completed this year to ensure improved water supply in the metropolis.

    According to Ahmed, about 179 rural communities now enjoy electricity through the electrification programme of the state government.

    Ahmed said his administration was expanding its revenue generation potentials to finance various developmental programmes through the promotion of commercial agriculture and other investment drive.

    He added: “We need to grow commercial agriculture, we need to get money to generate activities that would become taxable. So, we are at the implementation stages of these programmes, but the impact would not be felt until after about two or three years because part of the incentives you give to prospective investors is tax holiday.”

    The governor listed some of the Federal Government roads in the state, which require urgent attention as Kaima-Kishi Road, Ajasse-Ipo-Erin-Ile-Osun State Boundary Road and Omu-Aran-Kabba Road