The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Airlines

  • Yuletide: Air Travelers lament fare hike

    Air travelers at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja have lamented the hike in price of air tickets by airlines ahead of the Christmas celebration.

    Some of the travelers who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) said they were not surprised because they knew it had always been the case during yuletide seasons.

    Mr Obiora Okeke, a businessman, said he was not surprised that flight ticket prices have soared considering the antecedents of airlines during festive periods.

    Okeke said the issue of fare hike would not stop unless alternative means of transport like modern train services and good roads were provided.

    He also attributed the hike to the absence of efficient and viable domestic airlines in the country, adding that the airlines were struggling to survive.

    “It is not surprising that we are paying higher fare this time because it has been the case in Nigeria during festive periods because the same thing happens even in road transport sector.

    “The only way out is that government should continue with rail projects to provide alternative means of transportation for people.

    “Aside that, we don’t have many viable domestic airlines in Nigeria and the few we have are struggling to survive,” he said.

    Another traveler, Mrs Asabe Musa, said the airlines were taking undue advantage of people’s fears of road travels due to insecurity and bad roads.

    Musa called on the government to do more to tackle security challenges that has made roads dangerous for the public in many parts of the country.

    She also urged the government to pay more attention to railway to make it easy for people to travel.

    NAN reports that the air fare has gone up by almost double of all the prices about few weeks ago.

    Air fare on these routes charged by various airlines before now ranges from N19,000 to N41,000 depending on the airline and time of booking.

    A check by NAN on the price list of the various airlines revealed that they now charge between N36,000 and N70,000 on economy and N70,000 to N90,000 on business class depending on the time and destination.

    For Air Peace, its tickets were sold between N42,600 and N70,000 on Abuja-Lagos route as at Saturday and in spite of the high price of ticket, only its evening flight had some available seats as at Saturday morning.

    Arik sold its ticket ranging from N35,000 to NN46,000 on all routes while Max Air tickets sold for between N40,000 and N70,000 on Lagos-Abuja route, N30,000 to N60,000 for Abuja-Kano route and N65,000 on Abuja-Port Harcourt route.

    Other airlines like Aero Contractors, Dana Air, Medview sold their tickets between N44,188 to N52,000; N34,200 to N79,200 and N33,748 to N54,646 respectively. (NAN)

  • Airlines, others lose billions to MMA2’s closure

    Airlines, banks, eateries, Bureau de Change, car hire operators and other businesses within the Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal Two (MMA2), complex, yesterday lamented the continued closure of the facility to operations. The MMA2’s closure, now in its third day, has led to huge losses running into buillions of naira for the affected businesses, consequent upon the protest by aviation unions against Bi- Courtney Aviation  Services Limited (BASL), operators of the airport facility.

    Yesterday, protesting members of three aviation unions blocked the entrance leading to the MMA2, preventing passengers, airport workers and others from carrying out commercial activities at the terminal.

    To prevent the protesters from gaining access into the terminal, management of the terminal mobilised trucks , bouncers, dogs and heavily armed security personnel to secure the facility.

    Airlines that operate flights from MMA2 had to divert flights to the General Aviation Terminal(GAT) in the domestic wing of the airport.

    Stakeholders have however called for caution in resolving the crisis which they argued could deter investors from the sector.

    This is just as workers of Bi- Courtney Aviation Services Limited protested the siege on their terminal by members of aviation unions describing it as a great disservice to private investment in the sector.

    Speaking on behalf of Bi- Courtney Aviation Services Limited, head of Finance, Resort Group , Mrs Yosola Popoola said the protest  was counter-productive to the over 2000 concessionaires, customers , businesses  and employees who contribute hundreds of millions of naira to Nigeria’s economy daily.

    She said : “ There are over 500 employees in MMA2, only 27 people who have certain disciplinary issues with the company are now using the unions of the aviation industry to destroy the business.

    “Information reaching us as we speak is that each airline that resides here has bled profusely since the closure of the terminal and are endangered . Even at this stage it may be difficult for airlines to recover which may lead to retrenchment or closure of business. All airlines are of the  view that this most efficient terminal terminal in Nigeria and movement here has significantly enhanced productivity . The unions are seeking to destroy one of the flagships of the private sector industry in the provision of services in Nigeria . The passengers are choking as they have been subjected to inconveniences caused by extremely poor facilities in other terminals . We believe that treating the traveling public this way reflects badly on the aviation industry in Nigeria.”

    Meanwhile, Dana Air has  apologised to passengers over the MMA2/ Union dispute. The airline has threatened  to downsize if action lingers

    In a statement, its corporate communications manager, Kingsley Ezenwa said: “We wish to sincerely apologise to our teeming guests who missed their flights as a result of the dispute between aviation unions and Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL), operators of the Murtala Muhammed Airport 2 (MMA2), Ikeja Lagos state.

     

     

    While operating our first flight out of Lagos from MMA2, we made alternative arrangement and moved our operations temporarily to the General Aviation terminal (GAT).

    “ Our worst fear however is, if the terminal will be able to process the number of passengers when there is a coincidence in flight schedule with over 8 airlines having to operate from the General Aviation Terminal at the moment.

    “While we have been engaging our guests who are on our future flights seeing that the industrial action entered Day 2 yesterday, we appeal to the parties involved to resolve the dispute in consideration of the passengers for whom we are all in the industry to serve. Without the passengers, there won’t be any airline, regulator or industry and we believe they shouldn’t suffer for what they did not contribute to.

    “For now, we have lost over N100m to the ongoing action and losing such money in an industry where airlines are still grappling with a myriad of chal

  • NCAA warns airlines over flight cancellations, delays

    THE Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has warned airlines over flight cancellations and delays plaguing airline operations within the country.

    Spokesman of the authority, Sam Adurogboye, who disclosed this yesterday, said the warning was made at the just concluded stakeholders’ forum organised by the authority at the NCAA Annex, Ikeja, Lagos.

    The forum was attended by 13 international airlines, eight domestic airlines and airport operators – the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and Bi-Courtney Aviation Services.

    According to Adurogboye, officials of the NCAA requested airlines operators to enumerate challenges that could be the likely causes of delays and cancellations.

    The airlines, he said, itemised various challenges among, which are fuel supply, need for improvement in infrastructure at airports, unruly passengers, traffic on airport road and others.

    NCAA and FAAN, he said, assured operators the challenges would be tackled very soon.

    He said: “Airlines should be realistic in their flight planning/schedules.

    Airlines should always disseminate on time information to passengers on flight status.

    “Airlines to ensure they provide right to care to passengers in times of delays/cancellations in line with the Nig. CARs 2015 Part 19. NCAA/FAAN to liaise with FMTA to replace fuel hydrants, if the old ones will cost a lot of money to be fixed and the supply points should be connected to the airports.

    “FAAN/airport operators/owners to ensure facilities at the airports are functional (lightings, carousels, cooling systems etc)

    “FMTA to liaise with Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC) on fixing the underground pipeline layout from Apapa to Lagos airport to minimise surface transportation of fuel and FAAN should beef up security at the airports to prevent unlawful interference.”

     

     

     

  • Nigerian airlines sold tickets worth N505bn in 2017 — NCAA

    The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) said on Thursday that domestic and international airlines operating in Nigeria sold tickets worth N505.2 billion in 2017.

    The Director-General of NCAA, Capt. Muhtar Usman, stated this at the Quarterly Business Breakfast Meeting of the Aviation Round Table (ART) in Lagos.

    The theme of the meeting was: “Evaluation of Safety and Security Performance of Aviation Agencies in the last four years.’’

    Usman, who was represented by the Director of Consumer Complaints Directorate, NCAA, Capt. Adamu Abdullahi, said the ticket sales increased by 14.2 per cent (N82.7 billion) compared to the N422.4 billion sold in 2016.

    According to him, the eight domestic airlines sold N93.6 billion worth of tickets, while the 32 airlines on the international routes sold tickets worth N411.6 billion during the period under review.

    He said the amount realized from the sale of tickets would have been higher if not for the closure of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, for six weeks to enable the government rehabilitate its runway.

    “A stable forex regime, effective implementation of the Executive Order on Ease of Doing Business as well as the resumption of flight activities to the Maiduguri Airport, earlier closed due to insecurity, contributed to the increase,’’ the NCAA chief said.

    NAN

     

     

  • Airlines plan fare hike as fuel price rises

    Domestic carriers, under the aegis of the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), are planning to increase fares due to soaring aviation fuel price.

    The proposed fare hike, according to AON Chairman Captain Nogie Meggison, is predicated on the challenges in the product supply, which, he claimed, has been hijacked by a cabal.

    The challenges, he said, were affecting airlines’operations, safety, dispatch reliability and optimal utilisation of assets.

    Speaking with The Nation in Lagos, Meggison said the development might  force  airlines to hike fares.

    Lamenting how fuel price hike has increased airlines’financial burden, he said, if not checked, it might become a threat to business in the long term.

    He called on the government to ensure unhindered availability of fuel at competitive rate.

    In the last five years, fuel price of has increased from N160 to N220 per litre in Lagos and sells for over N270 per litre in some northern states, including Borno, Adamawa and others.

    Fuel accounts for over 40 per cent of the operating cost of carriers.

    Sources close to AON said possible hike in fares was one of the issues when airline owners and managers met recently.

    The carriers, the sources said, were worried over the fluctuating price, which has hovered between N220 and N270 per litre.

    According to investigations, fares may go up from about N23,000 for one-way trip in economy class on the Lagos-Abuja route to about N35,000, while a seat in business class may rise from N45,000 to about N60,000 for one way trip.

    Many airlines have various cabin configurations for their online fares, ranging from economy discount, economy saver, economy flexible, business saver to business flexible.

    The fare options in one of the carriers are N27,900, N33,000, N45,000 and N79,000.

    Return flights from Abuja to Lagos on the website of one of the carriers revealed a fare offering of N23,400, N25,200, N33,300, N45,000 and N79,200 in  economy discount, economy saver, economy flexible, business saver and business flexible cabins.

    But, investigations revealed that AON may not get the endorsement of members for the hike because two carriers – Arik Air and Aero Contractors of Nigeria – are under receivership by the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON).

    As airlines run with public funds, through cash injection by AMCON and supporting banks, they are not affected by the unfriendly operating environment. But carriers are alleged to be engaged in price war.

    Other operators accuse them of charging lower fares because they are exempted from payment of air navigation and airport charges as they are run by the government.

    An operator, who was part of the AON meeting, said: “We had our meeting recently, and one of the things we discussed was fuel situation in Nigeria. We cannot continue this way. The price of aviation fuel is affecting out operations negatively. The price keeps increasing by the day. Currently, it is hovering between N220 per litre and about N270 per litre.

    “How do people expect us to remain in business and be profitable when air fares have remained static?

    “We may have no option than to agree to raise air fares except the government does something to fix the oscillating price of fuel.”

    An operator, who pleaded not to be named said: “The  marketers sometimes say they don’t get foreign exchange to import fuel. Three persons are involved – the man who gets the licence to bring in fuel. Another person,  who owns a fuel dump and  another person who receives the fuel to keep for the man, will add his cost and other supply chain challenges, including the one on the sea and on the roads. When the fuel lands, they keep it somewhere before it finally goes to airlines  who need it, these added costs make it expensive.”

    It was gathered that aviation fuel costs more in Nigeria than other oil producing countries.

    According to statistics from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Jet A1 sells for  $2.30 per gallon in Nigeria, $2.30 in Benin and $1.94  in Cameroon.

    In Luanda, Angola, an oil producing country,  it sells for  $3.75 per gallon; in Libreville, it sells for $2.05 per gallon,whereas in Khartoum, Sudan, it sells for  $2.44 per gallon.

    It is only in  Equatorial Guinea fuel sells  for $0.46 per gallon.

    According to IATA,  jet  fuel prices in some African countries are double the global average. It said higher fuel price poses a serious threat to the development of aviation in Africa.

    IATA attributed the high cost of the fuel in Africa to distribution inefficiencies and infrastructure constraints.

    In an interview, IATA Vice President for Africa Raphael Kuuchi said: “Apart from the issues of highly priced jet fuel, Africa’s jet fuel shortfall is expected to triple from 1.8 million mt in 2013 to around 5.2 million mt by 2025. As a result of the high fuel price, ticket prices are relatively high. If the fuel price comes down and costs of operations reduce, airlines are likely to bring down their fares.

    “Today, fuel prices globally average per gallon is $1.3 dollar. In Africa, it ranges between $2 and $3.77. In some places, more than twice what it is globally.

    “We have observed that  fuel price is 21 per cent more expensive in Africa than the world average.”

  • Skyways Aviation MD seeks airlines, firms merger

    The Acting Managing Director of Skyways Aviation Handling Company Limited ( SAHCOL), Basil Agboarumi, has canvassed cooperation and merger among airlines and ground handling companies.

    This, he said, will enable them benefit from economies of scale as well as have an enhanced customer experience in the business where isolation is no longer fashionable.

    In an interview in Lagos, Agboarumi said rather than engaging in unhealthy competition, ground handling companies should consider ways to assist one another in improving the quality of services to passengers, airlines and others.

    On airlines, he said merging would reduce cancellations and delay of flights.

    Agboarumi said such partnership by airlines would increase passengers’ confidence and reduce loses associated with individual carriers running unprofitable operations.

    He called on the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to create an enabling regulatory environment to foster such mergers.

    The  SAHCOL boss said cooperation, mergers and alliances were the operational models adopted by global companies to have the cutting edge.

    He said: “Where the world is going in aviation is cooperation, you can’t stand alone. As long as you have something to offer in aviation, the time has come whereby stakeholders in the industry must begin to relate with one and other and jointly take decisions that can move the industry forward.

    “Cooperation is for the best of the industry, we as a company we have identified cooperation as the tonic to build the industry. We will continue to do our best, take the right step and initiative to ensure that what can give us the kind of aviation that we desire in the future is done. there must come to a point whereby we will definitely need ourselves.

    “In other parts of the world, ground handling companies are pooling resources. It is for us to get to that maturity stage. Even, airlines are cooperating now. When you have airlines in various parts of the world, they complement each other in passenger and cargo operations. We will have better aviation industry once we begin to look at the industry from that perspective.”

    He expressed optimism that the proposed national carrier would contribute to the growth of the sector.

    His words: “Now, we are talking of having a national carrier, which we believe will be good for our aviation industry. We have come to a point where we have to realise that there is no Nigeria aviation, but global standards. That is why you see regulators that visit us regularly to determine our level of compliance. It means that we must do things in line with international best practices. “

  • Airlines lose $1.5b yearly to maintenance, others

    African airlines lose over $1.5billion yearly to maintenance, repairs and overhaul of airlines outside the shores of the continent, it was learnt yesterday.

    The cost is incurred due to the absence of the facility in any part of Africa while there are only 48 aircraft operated by eight airlines in Nigeria, the Ag. Director-General, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Engr. Chidi Izua, said.

    He spoke during the presentation of the Outline Business Case (OBC) Certificates for the Aviation Leasing Company (ALC) and the Maintenance, Repairs and Overhaul (MRO) to the Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika.

    It is believed that the certification would enable Nigeria proceed to the procurement stage for the realisation of establishing both facilties in Nigeria.

    The government said if the facilities are established in Nigeria, the GDP currently contributed by the aviation sector would double.

    Lamenting the absence of the facilties and it’s importance in the continent, Izua said: “The MRO is the most important link in the aviation value chain as the major consideration in the industry is safety.

    “Considering the importance of the MRO, it is incomprehensible that none exist in the West African region, 98 years after the first aircraft landed in the country in (1920).

    “The lack of an MRO has had a negative impact on the survival of airlines in the country as airlines have struggled to maintain their fleet or stay in business for consistently long periods as seen in other climes, due to the exorbitant cost of maintenance that isn’t available locally and the time it takes to fly the aircrafts for checks.

    “Our review of the CBC presented a compelling case for the establishment of an MRO in Nigeria as the demand forecast study undertaken presented an assurance of a market that remains unserved locally, as more than half of the US3 billion annual expenditure by African airlines on maintenance is taken outside the continent.”

    Commenting also on the absence of ALC, Izua said about 70 per cent of commercial aircraft in Nigeria are leased and 50 per cent of the fleet globally.

  • Rainy season: NCAA issues weather alert to pilots, airlines

    THE Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has issued a weather hazard alert to pilots and airline operators over the rainy season.

    The  alert, according to NCAA spokesman, Sam Adurogboye,  is quite imperative at the outset of the rainy season, which is usually accompanied with severe thunderstorms and many other hazardous weather phenomena.

    He listed the weather phenomena as including turbulence, microburst, low level wind shear and hail events.

    The phenomena, the NCAA said, constitute factors known to pose obvious threat to aircraft operations.

    The advisory circular is  based on the Seasonal Rainfall Prediction (SRP) released for the year 2018 by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet).

    It predicts March/ April and May/ June as the onset  for rainy season in the southern and northern parts.

    It reads : “Therefore, pilots, operators and air traffic controllers should take note of their responsibilities.

    “Air traffic controllers may temporarily close airspace when hazardous weather conditions such as severe thunderstorms, squall lines, microburst or low level wind shear are observed or forecast by Nimet.

    “Flight crews/operators and Air Traffic Controllers (ATC) shall ensure adherence to aerodrome weather minima.

    “Pilots shall exercise maximum restraint whenever adverse weather is observed or forecast by Nimet.

    “Pilots/Flight crew members shall obtain adequate departure, en-route and destination weather information and briefing from Nimet Aerodrome Meteorological officer prior to flight operations.

    “Operators are, therefore, advised to ensure necessary measures are put in place to manage effects of flight delays or cancellations on their passengers.

    “All stakeholders are required to ensure strict compliance with this circular as violations would be viewed seriously.”

     

     

  • Afrijet chief urges NCAA to increase oversight on airlines

    The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of AfriJet Airlines,  Mohammed Tukur, has called on the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to step up its oversight responsibilities on domestic airlines.

    Increased oversight duties on airlines, Tukur said, will reduce the rate of aircraft accidents and other infractions on air safety.

    In a chat with The Nation, at the weekend, Tukur said NCAA needed to mobilise its airworthiness personnel and safety inspectors to  airports before and after take-off to monitor airlines.

    Besides stepping up oversight duties, Tukur said the NCAA should release more funds for   training and retraining of its safety inspectors to boost their  competence and help resist attempts to compromise by airline owners.

    Tukur also spoke on calls for the probe of Dana Air because of the recent incident.

    He said though the probe of Dana was necessary, the government should also beam its searchlight on  other domestic carriers to restore the confidence of the flying public in them.

    He said the probe had become imperative because of serious incidents by the airlines lately, adding that this called for reflection.

    Tukur warned against the politicisation of airlines’ probes, lamenting that recent calls by non-industry experts raised concern over their motive.

    Tukur said: “When  you single out one airline for audit, especially when such call is not coming from professionals, you create fear in the minds of the public, especially the passengers.

    Incidents and accidents are associated with aviation business, which, of course, nobody prays for, but when they occur, the relevant agencies step in to forestall a re-occurrence.

    But when you undermine the responsibility of these agencies of the government and go ahead to  give directive without proper consultations, the result of such order maybe counterproductive.

  • NCAA probes Delta Airlines’ air return

    NCAA probes Delta Airlines’ air return

    THE Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has classified the fire that engulfed the engine of an Atlanta, United States (U.S.)-bound Delta Airlines flight as “a very serious incident”.

    The authority said it has, therefore, handed over its investigation to the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB).

    A statement by its spokesman, Sam Adurogboye, explained that the classification was in line with the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

    According to Adurogboye, the aircraft with registration number N858NW with 219 passengers on board took off from the Lagos Airport at about 9.51p.m. Universal Time Coordinated (UTC) on Tuesday, February 13, when the crew noticed abnormal engine conditions in one of the two engines.

    He said the aircraft’s pilot made an air return after declaring emergency at 9.51 pm UTC.

    The statement said: “Some of the passengers, who sustained injuries, were rushed down to Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja for prompt medical attention.

    “In line with safety standards, the international Runway (18R) was promptly closed to traffic while the domestic Runway (18L/36R) was opened to other flights for emergency operations.

    “However, at time 0020UTC (1:20 am local time), the international Runway (18R) was reopened to traffic after the aircraft was evacuated from the runway and a runway sweeping and inspection conducted.”

    It added: “This incident was classified as serious incident in line with International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) classification, and investigation was handed over to Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB).

    “The flight has been rescheduled for Wednesday February 14, 2018 and affected passengers are already being checked in for departure.

    “The NCAA wishes to commend the prompt response of airport safety Services and other stakeholders.

    “NCAA wishes to reassure the travelling public, airlines and other aviation stakeholders of her continued commitment to Aviation safety and security.”

    Adurogboye said the pilot acted in accordance with the Standard and Recommended Practices (SARPs) by making an air return.

    Another statement yesterday by the United States carrier’s media consultant in Nigeria, Mr. Tope Awe, said the A330-200 had an issue with one of its two engines.

    “The flight landed safely and customers exited the aircraft on the runway via emergency slides.

    “Airport fire authorities met the aircraft upon arrival. Delta’s customers were bussed back to the terminal. Delta is aware of five customers reporting non-critical injuries as a result of the evacuation.

    “Delta teams have provided overnight hotel accommodations to customers and will rebook customers on an alternate Delta aircraft Wednesday afternoon.

    “The safety of Delta’s customers and crew members is always our top priority,” Awe said.