The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Airlines

  • AIB ‘detains’ airlines’ crew

    AIB ‘detains’ airlines’ crew

    THE Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) said yesterday that the Delta Airlines crew that flew the Airbus 330 – 200, which engine caught fire mid-air,  cannot leave the country until they obtain an incident statement from them.

    AIB Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer Akin Olatetu, at a news briefing in Lagos, said the airline’s flight engineers cannot carry out any repairs on the plane because it has become an equipment for investigation.

    He said the AIB took step as part of its obligations to protect the aircraft under investigation.

    Olateru said Delta Airlines was yet to officially report the incident to the AIB, a development he noted contravenes Nigerian laws.

    According to the AIB boss, his agency and Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) were collaborating on how to carry out comprehensive investigations into the cause of the engine fire.

    He berated Delta Airlines for failing to notify the AIB about the incident as the country of occurrence, in line with the regulations of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

    Olateru said: “When you have this kind of thing, we take possession of the aircraft and nobody goes near it. The aircraft is under safety investigation. That is what is required by law. But until they make a formal report, then we are expecting them.

    “I was made to understand they have appointed two investigators to work with us and they should be arriving this afternoon.

    “United States (U.S.) NTSB notified us that Delta has appointed two investigators to join us and NTSB is nominating one person. Their representative too will be joining to assist us on this investigation.”

    He added: “There is no competition or rivalry. For your information, I was notified by the DG of NCAA of the incident. This afternoon, we got information that their engineers want to work on the aeroplane and we made it clear to them that it is a no no. We told them that nobody should go near the aircraft.

    “The best we can do is to safeguard it. Security people are guarding the aircraft.”

    Olateru said the AIB has a responsibility to report the incident to ICAO.

    “We cannot fulfil our own obligation because this incident occurrence has not been reported to us officially by the operator.

    I am in contact with my counterpart in the U.S., Mr. Dennis Jones, MD of NTSB. He agreed with me and he will make sure that Delta do the needful. So, we are expecting.”

  • Airlines to save $90m on local aircraft maintenance 

    Airlines to save $90m on local aircraft maintenance 

    Nigeria is set to save millions of dollars by improving the country’s capacity in aircraft maintenance, the Minister of State, Aviation, Hadi Sirika, has said.

    Local maintenance capacity for aircraft, the minister said, will not only address huge capital flight, but will create jobs for teeming indigenous professionals.

    Speaking at the weekend during the unveiling of Aero Contractors Maintenances Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility in Lagos, Sirika said the centre will save the country at least $90 million from about 30 Boeing aircraft on domestic carriers’ fleet.

    According to Sirika, the roll out of Aerocontractors 737-500 aircraft from the hangar after a successful completion of C-Check has changed the the airline’s narrative.

    C-check is a detailed maintenance check where the entire component of an aircraft is inspected for the purpose of repair and maintenance. It is heavier than A and B checks and can take up to three weeks to conduct a C-check and it requires up to 6,000 man-hours.

    According to the Minister, Nigeria experiences huge capital flight as airlines spend not less than $1.8million and $3million on C-Checks per Boeing aircraft.

    Sirika said: “It is noteworthy that Boeing 737 is the most aircraft operated in Nigeria by indigenous airlines till date. Nigeria experienced huge capital flight of nothing less than $1.8million and $3million per Boeing aircraft, which left the country’s shores for C-Checks and there are more than 30 of such aircraft operating, so, you do the arithmetic.”

    According to the Minster, Aero  Contractor was at the brink of being written off as another failed airline, but the airline management dug deep and turned around to make remarkable history as the first indigenous airline to undertake C-Check on Boeing 737 Classics.

    Aero Contractors Airline Managing Director, Captain Ado Sanusi, said the feat was necessitated by the need to maintain its aircraft locally.

    Sanusi declared that the days where domestic airlines take their aircraft for maintenance abroad were over, stressing that conducting a C-check abroad amount to loss of huge capital flight.

    According to him, Aero Contractors would be conducting the checks for all domestic airlines in Nigeria and across the West and Central Africa, affirming that the airline has bounced back to a profitable state.

    His words: “Right now, three of our aircraft are up for maintenance and for third-party maintenance, we have about six aircraft. So, the entire year is busy for us because before the end of the year, we will have a full bay maintenance facility in the country.

    “This feat is a game changer in the aviation industry for the entire country and it means that we can maintain our airplanes. We don’t have to take them out of the country. It will save us foreign exchange, turnaround time for maintenance and we can also do it according to international standards.”

    Asset Management Corporation  of Nigeria (AMCON) Managing Director,  Mr. Ahmed Kuru, said the certification by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to Aero Contractors to conduct C-checks on Boeing 737-500 series in the country would galvanize boom in the aviation industry.

    Kuru said:”This facility at Aero will save millions of dollars that Nigerian airlines and not just Aero  spend outside this country on facilities such as this. It is our belief that the facility will achieve huge savings for operators from neighboring African countries, thereby attracting the much needed funds required to strengthen our economy.”

    He continued: “I would like to solicit the support for Aero MRO by all stakeholders, particularly the relevant aviation regulatory bodies, towards ensuring that this seed that has been planted is allowed to grow in our collective interest as Nigerians.

    “We cannot continue to allow capital flight of our scarce foreign exchange towards paying for services that are available in Nigeria and would provide a source of employment for our people. I would like to direct other airlines to use this facility as such would enable Aero MRO to grow towards conducting maintenance for other aircraft types.”

  • Airlines cancel more flights over bad weather

    Domestic airlines on Thursday canceled more flights over poor visibility on major routes from Lagos  and Abuja into Enugu, Calabar and  Benin.

    Arising from the bad weather airplanes scheduled to fly from Abuja and Lagos into airports in South Eastern and South South routes could not leave their aerodromes on account of en route weather indicating less than 800 meters, the minimum prescribed by regulatory authorities.

    Investigations by The Nation revealed that many passengers remained stranded at airports nationwide as airlines oscillated from delayed , rescheduled to cancelled flights .

    At the Lagos Airport general aviation terminal one, hundreds of passengers remained stranded for hours awaiting when airlines will announce their scheduled flights.

    Same sour experience prevailed at the Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal Two , Lagos where airlines continue to either cancel or reschedule flights.

  • Airlines count losses as bad weather disrupts flights nationwide

    Airlines count losses as bad weather disrupts flights nationwide

    Inclement weather occasioned by the harmattan haze has forced many domestic carriers to cancel flights from the Lagos Airport into Port Harcourt, Enugu, Calabar, Uyo, Benin, Warri, Asaba , Ibadan and Ilorin.

    The harmattan haze resulting in poor visibility is preventing airlines from operating flights into airports less than 800 meters approved weather minima by aviation regulatory agencies.

    Airports in South South and South East are worst hit by the inclement weather. Airlines are losing revenue.

    Air Peace and Arik Air, the biggest operators by volume of flights, are hugely affected.

    Air Peace Corporate Communications Manager Mr Christian Iwarah told The Nation that the airline was badly affected by the weather; it cancelled six flights on Wednesday.

    Iwarah said the cancellation of flights into Benin, Calabar, Uyo, Enugu, Port Harcourt and Akure has hugely complicated its schedules with the attendant revenue loss and fidelity to on time performance.

    He said most passengers have refused to show understanding that the delays and cancellations are beyond the airlines but forces of nature.

    He said :” The inclement weather is seriously affected our operations . We have no choice but to either delay or cancel some flights because we will not fly into any airport below the approved weather minima.

    “This is forcing us to lose money and our name because passengers will not understand . This could even force some passengers to attack our staff, we think the relevant security agencies should provide security for our workers and equipment .

    “Whatever has happened, we are Lodi g heavily on all sides. How do we handle the backlog of passengers, issues about refund and other challenges.”

    He said airline only operated flights today into Lagos , Accra, Owerri, Abuja and Port Harcourt.

    On his part, Arik spokesman, Ola Adebanji said the airline could not operate flights into Asaba, Benin, Warri , Ilorin and Ibadan.

    He said :” This poor visibility is impacting negatively on our flights because the airline is loosing revenue.”

    DANA Air spokesman Kingsley Ezenwa said though the airline operated flights , but it had to monitor the prevailing weather that it meets the prescribed minima.

    He said: “Though DANA Air did not cancel any flights, but we experienced a lot of delays .”

    Investigations reveal that many passengers remain stranded at airports waiting airlines to announce boarding for flights.

    Some domestic and international airlines yesterday delayed or cancelled flights at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, due to adverse weather conditions.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the affected flights involved Air Peace, Dana Air, Arik Air, Azman and Air France.

    NAN reports that the affected cities are Port Harcourt, Owerri, Enugu and where both out-bound and in-bound passengers are currently stranded nationwide.

    The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) had on Tuesday predicted that dust haze weather conditions in horizontal visibility range of one to three kilometres would prevail over most parts of the county on Wednesday.

    NiMet also predicted a reduced localised visibility of less than 1000m over many cities throughout the forecast period.

    When NAN visited the airport yesterday, there were series of flight announcements on either cancellation or delay of different flights.

    At about 10 a.m. it was announced that Dana flight to Port Harcourt had been cancelled due to prevailing bad weather conditions across the country.

  • IATA: ‘$1.2b airlines’ revenue locked in Africa’

    IATA: ‘$1.2b airlines’ revenue locked in Africa’

    The global airline industry has $1.2 billion (£916.6 million) blocked in nine dollar-strapped African countries, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said yesterday.

    The global commodities price crash that began in 2014 hit economies across Africa hard, particularly big resource exporters such as Angola and Nigeria. Low oil and mineral prices have reduced government revenue and caused chronic dollar shortages and immense pressure on local currencies.

    The fiscal slump has meant governments have not allowed foreign airlines to repatriate their dollar profits in full.

    At an aviation meeting in the Rwandan capital, IATA’s Vice President for Africa, Raphale Kuuchi, said airlines were in talks with “a few governments to unblock airline funds”. He did not specify the companies were affected.

    “To do business effectively, airlines must be able to reliably repatriate their revenues,” Kuuchi said. “And that’s not the case in nine African countries: Angola, Algeria, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Libya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sudan and Zimbabwe.”

    Of the total of $1.2 billion, Angola has blocked the largest amount, $500 million, while Sudan has held up $200 million, another IATA official, Adefunke Adeyemi, told Reuters.

    Last year Nigeria owed airliners $600 million but as of October the amount had fallen to $221 million, she said.

  • Airlines, airports to invest $33b in ICT

    Global airlines and airports are exppected to spend nearly $33 billion on information technology in the next four months, statistics from Geneva-based Air Travel Solutions provider ( SITA) has said.

    The amount, according to SITA, a mutlinational information technology company which provides telecommuncation services to the industry, shows that airlines are focusing their technology investments on similar priorities, in particular cyber security.

    Ilya Gutlin, president, Air Travel Solutions, SITA, said: “The air transport industry is going through digital transformation and focusing its attention on protecting the business and passengers; making it more efficient and improving the passenger experience.

    “Cyber-attacks are a very real threat in the highly interwoven air transport industry so building solid defenses is essential. Cloud services provide important efficiencies which play a key role in keeping costs down.”

    He said investments in self-service improves passenger satisfaction as they welcome the independence and efficiencies it delivers.”

    Gutlin  said: “When it comes to information technology  investment, airports and airlines are aligned to provide better, more secure service to customers.

    “The interdependencies built into air transport systems mean investments and improvements in all these areas, by airlines and airports alike, will continue to contribute to a strong global industry.”

    Antoine Rostworowski, director, Airport Customer Experience and Technology, at Airports Council International (ACI), said SITA’s research, which was co-sponsored by ACI, reveals valuable insights for the industry .

    He said there is an alignment of investment priorities among airports and airlines, which reflects the collaboration between ACI and  International Air Transport Association (IATA) on best practices.

    ACI and IATA have joint initiatives such as Automated border control, end-to-end baggage tracking (facilitation), Data Exchange, Common-Use (Airport IT) and Smart Security.

    Industry partners such as SITA and others are also involved in these initiatives to make airports more efficient and to improve passenger experience.

    Rostworowski said airlines  are focusing on providing mobile services. ”Today, the vast majority of airlines provide check-in  boarding  and flight status notifications via mobile  platforms and by 2020 more than 97 per cent  plan to do so, he said.

    According to him, a key area of growth will be providing real-time flight updates over social media which will jump from 31 per cent of airlines doing so to 92 per cent in the next three years.

    “At airports, self-service processes at check-in, bag drop and boarding are increasingly popular with passengers and 89 per cent  of airports are investing in these processes.

  • ‘Govt shouldn’t allow foreign airlines to take us for a ride

    Three years after he established Peace Airlines, Chief Allen Onyema has learn the ropes the hard way. In this interview with Kelvin Osa Okunbor, he talks about the ups and downs of running an airline.

    What is your evaluation of the travel market vis-a-vis the performance of Air Peace?

    The industry is not where it should be, but it is growing. The industry needs a lot of improvement. When I was coming in, I was warned about the harsh environment under which domestic airlines operate. I dismissed such warnings with a wave of the hand, but now I have seen it all. Air Peace will be three on October 24. In less than three years I have received my own baptism of fire. I have gone to the school of Nigerian aviation, I have seen it all and I make bold to say that there is a lot to be desired. However, Air Peace, as I promised during our launching on October 21, 2014, was coming to revolutionise the way the scheduled flight operations are done . We have lived up to that promise we made.

    It is evident that if Air Peace had not come at the time it did, no one knows what would have been happening in scheduled operations today. Our coming helped to sustain competitive fares in domestic travel market. We have contributed our own quota to the economic development of this nation and we are proud of what we have been able to achieve as an airline so far.

    We have caused a lot of changes in the aviation industry; we brought with us on-time departure that was lacking before we came in. We provided several frequencies right from the first day. It was the first time an airline will be doing 14 flights on its first day of operation. We opened up five different stations the same day. So we took the bull by the horns right from day one and we have never looked back. So, to a large extent, Air Peace has contributed in changing the face of aviation in Nigeria.

    What is your fleet size now and what is your plan for expansion?

    We started with seven aircraft; four Boeing B737s and three Donnier 328 jets. Today, we have been able to acquire 15 more aircraft. So, we now have 22 aircraft in our fleet. So Air Peace is Nigeria’s largest carrier today fleet-wise. We have 13 Boeing B737s, six Embraer 145 regional jets and one Donnier 328 jet. We also have two Boeing 777s for our international operations, which are still domiciled outside the country.

    With your long-haul aircraft delivered, why are you not operating international services yet?

    We will go into international operations very soon. We planned that we would go into international operations two years after we had started. So it was in our business plan to go international, to help conserve  foreign exchange and to help create wealth for the people. Air Peace is not unaware of what the foreign airlines have been doing to our country. A nine-hour flight from Johannesburg to London would cost less than a six-hour flight from Lagos to London. This country has been raped; our foreign reserves have been depleted in the hands of foreign airlines. All foreign airlines are making a killing out of Nigeria because domestic airlines are not firmly operating international destinations. So Nigerians are at the mercy of these foreign airlines in terms of outrageous fares. So we decided to go international and we are taking it step by step.

    We should have by now started our foreign operations but for some  hindrances that have to do with policy. We are ready to touch the whole world but we need the support of government and people of Nigeria.

    I know that under Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), airlines have been making efforts to get government to review the alleged double taxation on airlines. How far have you gone with the campaign?

    AON took this matter then Acting President, President, Yemi Osinbajo, and he called for a meeting; we met with him and gave him details of our grouses. And he called for an enlarged meeting of all the agencies and the Ministry of Aviation and the airline operators. We held a second meeting where we presented our issues. Osinbajo set up a committee to look at these issues and the committee is yet to meet. The committee comprises the Minister of Aviation and the agencies and maybe about three representatives from the airlines.

    The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has recommended ways African countries can boost the aviation industry to create more jobs and generate more revenue. IATA also talked about some inimical policies in Africa. What is the way out of these challenges as an operator?

    Government must protect the investments that create and sustain jobs for the citizens. That should be the priority behind government policies. In aviation, government must ensure that local airlines are protected. Foreign airlines don’t create jobs for Nigerians; they don’t pay huge taxes that we pay; so government should encourage these indigenous companies.

    A government official recently told me that allowing foreign airlines to fly to many airports as they want in the country is good for competition. That did not make sense to me because those airlines that come to Nigeria are protected by their host countries. They do not allow foreign airlines to dominate them. That is what our government should be doing for us.

    No country in the world allows the open rape of its skies.

    In Africa Nigeria seems to be too liberal; allowing all airlines from the continent to come to the country.

    We have given unfettered access to foreign airlines and I urge government to look at the bigger picture and not the pittance these people are paying to the government in the name of passenger service charge. They should begin to look at the bigger picture, first of all these foreign airlines are carting billions of dollars out of this country yearly. These billions of dollars should have been channelled into doing other things if they are being earned by domestic airlines.

    Do you agree with the observation that the aviation sector is more conducive for foreign airlines’ operation?

    I was shocked when I read that Ethiopian Airlines is trying to take over Arik, but the question is, on what basis? If you are bringing Ethiopian management  to help run Arik here separately, the question is don’t we have enough people here to do it? The Capt. Roy Ilegbodu management is doing very well. They are trying to turnaround what they met on ground. We have capable Nigerians to run Arik; we don’t need Ethiopian Airlines to come and run Arik.

    In giving out management contract to Ethiopia to manage Arik, we should look at the consequence. We should not allow our country to be taken over by foreign airlines that have the sole intention to exploit our country and make profits. If Ethiopia takes over Arik Air tomorrow the economy of Ethiopia will depend on Nigeria; this is because they are going to be carting away billions of dollars to develop their own country because Nigeria is a huge market. So coming in here to buy Arik or take over Arik is not for cheap. If Arik owes N300 billion that is pittance to what these people are going to cart away. N300 billion is less than $1 billion, Arik is worth about $12 billion in goodwill and opportunities. Anybody coming to buy Arik should pay down about $12 billion, excluding Arik equipment; I am talking about the goodwill and opportunities.

    All this noise about Ethiopia being a successful airline is because no Nigerian airline has succeeded. Domestic airlines operate under the harshest environment you can think of, but with the right support we can excel.

    A stakeholder in the industry, Group Captain John Ojikutu, has accused domestic airlines of refusing to pay their charges to aviation agencies despite making so much money. What is your take on that?

    That is not true; it is absurd, bizarre and unfortunate. If I fail to respond to what he said, many people in the society might start believing him. The summary of his advocacy is that domestic airlines should be killed because you want to form a national carrier. To start with national carrier is a moribund idea. British Airways is no longer a national carrier; America with their might in aviation does not have a national carrier. What the whole world is doing is called flag carriers because government has no business doing business.

    Airline operation has so many avenues for leakages, no government can run airline very well. As the owner of Air Peace, I man the day to day running of my airline. I have not been able to stop the  fraud going from one end to the other because there are avenues for it, not to talk of an airline owned by government. So national carrier is a moribund idea, countries don’t do it. Nobody tells you how much South African Airways owes and it is subsidised by South Africa. It is the same with so many national carriers.

    What I will advise the government to do first is that it must facilitate the establishment of a good maintenance hangar that can do up to D-check and the whole world will be coming here to maintain their plane and we will be getting foreign exchange.  Air Peace alone spends huge foreign exchange to maintain its aircraft overseas. None of our planes comes back with less than $3 million for every C-check. This year alone we have sent about seven aircraft overseas for C-check; that is over $21 million . You could imagine if the hangar is situated in Nigeria. If this money is domiciled here and used here the amount of jobs it will create. So we need a maintenance hangar, the government can support or bring investors; not the national carrier talk.

  • Domestic airlines raise fares on major routes

    Domestic airlines raise fares on major routes

    Some domestic carriers have jerked up fares into northern routes from Lagos and Abuja ostensibly because of the Sallah celebration and the two-day public holiday declared by the Federal Government.

    Fares to routes, such as Kaduna, Maiduguri, Yola, Sokoto, Jos, and Abuja,  have gone up because of the capacity of the few operators on some of affected routes.

    Passenger traffic between Thursday and Friday on the routes increased as airlines were battling to resolve overbooking challenges.

    A visit to the local wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport on Friday revealed that airfares for a one-way trip for economy seat, which was between N24,000 and N30,000 last month,  has gone up to N48,000 on the Lagos-Abuja, Kaduna, Kano and Maiduguri routes.

    Airlines that operate into these routes are Aero, Arik, Air Peace, AZMAN Air, Medview Airlines, Overland Airways and Dana Air.

    Investigations revealed that bookings for various economy seats, whether premium, deluxe and flexible cabin, were fully booked, with the inscription “No Seat” on major airlines’ websites.

    It was gathered that some passengers had made bookings and paid for their seats many weeks ahead to escape the high fares being offered for the few seats available for recent bookings.

    A travel agent with Finish Travels, Akin Oyero, said some Nigerians are travelling, despite the economic downturn.

    He said rush periods, such as Sallah, provides opportunity for airlines to raise fares.

    He said: “The load factors of these locations are almost full for tomorrow and next. Nigerians are resilient and love to travel just to celebrate with their love ones.

    “Airlines leverage festive periods, such as Sallah to make up for their lost revenues during non-festive periods. As such, Medview Airline, which is the major airline that plies northern routes have seized this opportunity to generate revenues.

    “Abuja route is equally experiencing high demand and airlines are leveraging this to also charge high fares. Airfares for Eastern part of Nigeria have remained relatively stable,” the travel agent added.

  • Dollar sale to airlines, fuel importers, agri business coming

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said  manufacturers, airlines, fuel importers and agriculture businesses will be able to buy dollars at a special market intervention to clear a backlog of foreign exchange obligations now due.

    The CBN plans to settle the bids through a combination of spot and short-term forward deals, currency traders said, citing a notice from the bank. It did not specify the amount of dollars to be sold.

    “Authorised dealers’ accounts with the central bank will be debited in full for the naira equivalent of the dollar bid amount on a spot basis,” the bank said in a notice to lenders.

    The CBN has been selling dollars since February in an effort to improve liquidity and narrow the spread between the official and black market exchange rates for the naira. Close to $5 billion has been sold, according to analysts.

    The naira was quoted at 377.83 to the dollar at the investor window, according to market regulator FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange. It sold for 305.60 to the dollar at the interbank window and 366 on the black market.

  • Airlines release flight schedules for Abuja airport

    Airlines release flight schedules for Abuja airport

    Airlines are elated to resume operations at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NNIA) Abuja today, 44 days after flights were diverted to pave the way for the repair of its runway.
    The euphoria among the carriers, it was gathered, followed the mixed feelings that trailed their operations for six weeks, when Kaduna Airport was used as alternate aerodrome.
    Besides low passenger traffic, increasing costs of operations and logistic challenges, it was learnt operations at Kaduna Airport was not all that satisfactory.
    Only yesterday, airlines including Air Peace, Medview Airlines, DANA Air and Ethiopian Airlines released their schedule of flights into and out of Abuja Airport.
    Hailing the Federal Government for keeping up to the timeline for the completion of the Abuja Airport runway repairs, the carriers also hailed passengers for their patience, patronage and understanding.
    Medview said it would operate six daily flights to the nation’s capital.
    In a statement by the Chief Operating Officer/Accountable Manager (COO/AM), Lukman Animasaun, an engineer, said besides the six daily flights, the flights to Yola, Kano and Maiduguri would now be routed through Abuja, which has been the practice.
    Animasaun said the closure of Abuja Airport brought out the potentials of Kaduna International Airport, making the airline to operate daily flight as against the three weekly flights.
    On its part, DANA Air said it would operate five daily flights into Abuja.
    The Accountable Manager of Dana Air, Mr. Obi Mbanuzuo, said: “We will commence flights to Abuja on Wednesday (today) and will operate five daily flights from Lagos to Abuja.”
    Air Peace also announced its flight schedule on the Abuja route.
    A statement issued by the carrier’s Corporate Communications Manager, Mr. Chris Iwarah, hailed air travellers for keeping faith with the airline and making a huge sacrifice to ensure repair of the bad portions of the runway of the Abuja airport.
    Ethiopian Airlines announced the resumption of its flight to Abuja Airport with its latest and the most modern airplane in the world, the Airbus A350-900 for the first time.