The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Airlines

  • Airlines warned on drug trafficking

    Airlines warned on drug trafficking

    … UK releases Arik crew member

    The Chairman/Chief Executive of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Ahmadu Giade has called on airlines to take all necessary steps to prevent drug trafficking in the country.

    Giade said this during an emergency meeting between airline managers and the agency’s leadership, held at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos.

    NAFDAC also disclosed that the United Kingdom authorities have released the Arik crew member that was allegedly found in possession of cigarettes.

    She is currently helping NDLEA officers in the ongoing investigation.

    However, the crew member reportedly found with 6kg of substance suspected to be cocaine is still being quizzed in London.

    Giade warned that any airline found wanting would be penalised. He pointed out that section 25 of the NDLEA Act outlined the responsibilities of airlines.

    “It shall be the duty of every commercial carrier to take reasonable precaution to ensure that its means of transport are not used in the commission of offences under this Act.

    “They are to comply with appropriate security measures at points of entry and exit in the Federal Republic of Nigeria and other customs control areas, to prevent unauthorized cargo in its means of transportation,” he said.

    The NDLEA commander at the Lagos airport, Mr. Hamza Umar, explained that such precautions as contained in the Act include training of personnel to identify suspicious consignment or persons, promotion of integrity of their personnel and submission of cargo manifests in advance.

     

  • Experts: African airlines may die by 2050

    Experts in the aviation industry have raised the alarm over the possibility of carriers facing extinction by 2050 because of their inability to merge.

    They predicted that by 2050, only 12 airlines would remain in operations in the globe.

    The experts spoke at the Nigeria Aviation Summit in Lagos last weekend.

    They affirmed that though merger and consolidation have gained ground in the global aviation industry, airlines in the continent are still foot-dragging on the arrangement, which commenced in United States of America, in 1930.

    The convener of the event, Mr Gabriel Olowo, in his speech entitled, A dozen world airliners by 2050, emphasised that Nigerian and African airlines face trouble if they do not embrace mergers and consolidation.

    He explained that the revenues of the three biggest airlines in the continent, Kenyan Airways, Ethiopian and South African Airways, put at over $3billion are about 35 per cent of the yearly revenue of Emirates Airlines.

    He added that efforts to ensure merger and consolidation among the continent’s carrier had failed in the past, adding that mergers or consolidation could not be achieved by government coercion.

    He lamented the precarious situation of the airlines, saying that there are only 57 aircraft in the fleet of the carriers while an airline, such as South African Airways has over 67 aircraft.

    He said: “Nigerian airlines are at the bottom level of success. The six airlines that we have in operations are in the lowest rung of the ladder in terms of revenue, service delivery and good business model.

    “Business climate is shifting from the West to Africa, when that shift comes, the continent’s carrier may be caught napping.”

    Dr. Tony Kila, one of the speakers at the event, noted that for the continent’s carriers to remain in operations by 2050, they need to engage in training of their manpower.

    The former president of the National Association of Nigerian Travelling Agencies, NANTA, Mr Soji Amusan, emphasised that customer satisfaction, quality services, productivity, profit and cost control would not happen by themselves, but the stakeholders in the industry would have to make them happen.

     

    He said, “The level of team work among people determines the success or otherwise of the company. There are about 35 training schools in Lagos alone and out of these numbers, only six are certified by IATA despite the claim of the schools that they were approved by the government.”

    The Managing Director, Overland Company, Capt. Edward Boyo also observed that Nigerian airlines would remain behind in global aviation industry unless they cooperate in the form of merger and acquisition, which he said was the norm globally.

    “Mergers enable growth, increase the market shares, increase values for customers, increases credit worthiness for the airline and enhances market perception of the airlines. However, merge can not be done by government coercion. It has to be marriage of willing parties and there should be trust.”

     

  • Airlines are hurting our business, says NANTA

    The National Association of Nigerian Travel Agencies has decried the unfair treatment being meted out to them by airlines.

    According to the association’s national president, Alhaji Aminu Agoha, despite the huge amount money the NANTA is making for the airlines, S1.03bn, the airlines still go ahead to undercut the travel agency operators.

    He said: “Although NANTA enjoys a good relationship with some of the airlines, most of them are still operating in direct competition with travel agencies and all efforts to get them relocate their sales offices to the airports have proved abortive. Most of the airlines even sell tickets direct to corporate bodies which is a violation of the standard practice. All airlines on BSP should be compelled to close their city sales offices and move to the airports as it is the practice all over the world.

    “The airlines have continued to post cheaper fares on the internet than the ones on the travel agencies’ booking platform. This means that as the accredited agents of the airlines, our fares tend to be more expensive than those of the airlines. The airlines charge the Nigerian travellers taxes which have no basis. We appeal to this distinguished committee to compel the airlines to desist from these sharp practices.”

    He continued: “With a workforce of over 5000 Nigerians, the travel agencies account for 75 per cent of the capital sales revenue of about $1.5b for the year 2011. But regrettably enough, the major airlines do not pay our members commissions on tickets sales; rather they remit all the money to their home countries. This is capital flight and an attempt to kill the downstream sector of the aviation industry.

    “Most of the airlines do not give our members withholding tax receipts for taxes collected on their behalf. This is partly because most of them trade with the money instead of remitting it to the FIRS.

    “In order to force down prices in the interim, airlines should be compelled to immediately abolish the fuel tax surcharge and a technical committee set up by government to review the cost components of the airfares.”

  • Airlines get ultimatum on new safety device

    Airlines get ultimatum on new safety device

    The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority has given domestic airlines six months ultimatum to install the newest safety gadget in the aviation industry, Automated Flight Information Reporting System (AFIRS) in their aircraft or face severe sanctions.

    The Director-General of NCAA, Dr. Harold Demuren, disclosed this on Tuesday in Lagos while fielding questions from journalists at the ongoing Airbus Industry Workshop for indigenous airline operators.

    He, however, said that so far, all the country’s airline operators were interested in fixing the equipment into their airplanes and disclosed that it cost NCAA about $30,000 to acquire and install the equipment in its headquarters in Lagos.

    For the airlines, he said it would cost them more, but they could pay in installment to the manufacturer of the equipment after the initial payment of about $60, 000 on each aircraft.

    He said, “I think we are giving them six months to install the gadgets in their airplanes. We need to give them sometime. It is not a thing you can do in one day. After that, no aeroplane would operate in the public category without the safety device. I think it is good to promote safety in the industry.

    “Any snag would be detected automatically. Every one of them wants to do it. Look, if you think this is expensive, go and try accident. It is the latest in the world. You know we have been complaining that pilots don’t record snags in their logbooks, but this automatically records everything. You can’t hide or change it. Everyone would have it; the airline and even the NCAA. We will know the problem and we would be able to fix it.

    “It is a fraction of the money they will use to buy an airplane. It’s nothing. The system entirely for NCAA cost us about $30, 000. For the airlines, we are talking of initial payment of $60,000 and then a yearly payment till they finish paying.”

    On the workshop, Demuren commended the aircraft manufacturer for conducting the training for Nigerian airline operators, saying that this would further boost safety in the Nigerian aviation industry.

    Also speaking on the issue, the International Safety Programme Director, Airbus, Mr. Marc Ballion, said that the AFIRS would automatically be fixed on all its aircraft from 2015.