The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Dana Air

  • Dana Air decorates pilots as captains

    Dana Air has decorated two captains and three senior first officers at a ceremony held at the Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal Two ( MMA2), Ikeja, Lagos.

    While Kalu Sylvester and Ibrahim Kazeem were decorated captains, Ilesanmi Ayotunde, Afolabi Damilola and Lawal Wahab were made flight officers.

    Dana’s Director of Flight Operations Capt. Segun Omole said the airline trained 27 pilots last year, adding that 17 co-pilots, 16 captains and nine first flight officers were undergoing training.

    Omole, who enjoined the pilots to fly safely and legally in line with the tenets of the profession, said the new officers were like fresh university graduates and stressed the need for “catching them young.”

    “This is just the beginning, the tenets of our operations is to fly the aircraft safely and legally. If it is not legal then it is not safe and if it is not safe it is not legal.

    “When our aircraft first came we had to use a foreign crew because not many Nigerians were trained on the MD-83s. We knew that we would have to transit to local crew and from 20 per cent Nigerian crew working in Dana at the begining, we can now boast of a 90 per cent Nigerian crew.

    “There are some risks in training but Dana continues to train. We still have some more pilots in training and maybe in a few months from now, we may have more decorations.

    “Most of our pilots are trained locally in Ilorin or at the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT); some were trained in South Africa and the UK.

    “In flight operations department, we have continued to bring new ones from the graduate school. When you catch them young, you can mould them.

    “We want all our pilots to come in as first officers, grow with us and move to become captains. We will still employ captains from outside in the future but it will be the last resort,” he said.

    On the training and employment of female pilots, Omole said the airline was open to signing them on.

    “There is one already on training. I have found that female pilots are more manageable. There are many female pilots and we will bring them in. The ones who attended interview were hired but we lost them to other airlines,” he added.

    Responding on behalf of the pilots, Kalu thanked the airline and pledged that they would do their utmost to maintain the airline’s standard.

    “We will do our best as ambassadors of Dana Air. We will fly as safely as we can,”  he added.

  • Dana Air opens Owerri office

    Dana Air opens Owerri office

    DANA Air has opened an office in Owerri, the Imo State capital.

    The office, according its Corporate Communications Manager, Kingsley Ezenwa, is to enable the airline  consolidate its partnership with Imo State government.

    An aircraft belonging the state is managed by Dana Air with the registered call sign IMO Air.

    Last month, the airline unveiled sponsorship deals worth millions of Naira with Nigerian professional football league covering Akwa united of Akwa Ibom State and Heartland Football Club of Imo State.

    Under this deal, Dana Air will get branding opportunities for the duration of the season and fly the team to all its away matches in the 2018 NPFL season.

    Also as part of the deal, the club’s player of the month initiative will be sponsored by Dana Air  with a largess from the airline.

    The airline is the only domestic airline to undertake such initiative like  global carriers including Emirate, Ethiad and Qatar Airways.

  • 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.’’

  • DANA Air gets IATA membership certificate 

    DANA Air gets IATA membership certificate 

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

    The airline has however, assured its passengers of its commitment to continue to raise the bar of its operational efficiency with an airline model that guarantees sustainability and professionalism in Nigeria’s aviation industry.

    The Accountable Manager of Dana Air, Mr Obi Mbanuzuo made this known blast week during the official presentation of the membership certificate of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to DANA Air in Lagos.

    He said the airline will continue to maintain global best practices in the aviation industry while still churning out world-class initiatives to exceed the flying aspirations of its ever-increasing membership of the airlines’ loyalty program –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 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.’’

    Obi said :” We are very confident of our model as presently we are 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 commitment to professionalism is unwavering’’

    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’’

  • DANA Air flies 2.7 million passengers in nine years

    DANA Air flies 2.7 million passengers in nine years

    DANA Air has flown over 2.7 million passengers in the past nine years, its Chief Operating Officer/Accountable Manager, Obi Mbanuzuo has said.

    He disclosed while reviewing the operations of the airline since inception in 2008.

    The airline said it has grappled with the myriad of operational challenges in the last nine years in its bid to contribute to the growth of air transport in Nigeria.

    Speaking in an interview in Lagos, Mbanuzuo called on the government to improve airport facilities and consolidate on the ease of doing business, which he said has improved passengers’ travel experience.

    He said DANA Air will continue to take steps to improve industry growth through the recruitment and training of indigenous pilots.

    Mbanuzuo said: “Our commitment to supporting our ‘own’ while still encouraging professionalism and growth in the Nigerian aviation industry, has led to our recruitment and constant training of Nigerian pilots. We are proud of our contribution to the industry and we thank the regulators for being supportive of our efforts in this regard.

    “We also took our safety standards a notch higher with our membership of the International Air Transport Association and as it affects statistics from the regulators and considering the number of flights we operate daily, we have not disappointed our guests. Our goal isn’t to improve on what has been achieved but to totally reimagine it.

    “In terms of customer satisfaction, we have raised the bar of our customer service with our newly introduced unit – The Special Service Unit, made up of highly trained staff to attend to urgent needs of our guests on ground Lagos, Abuja and Uyo airports. And for our digital guests who love to avoid the queues, our self-check-in kiosks at MMA2, the first of its kind at the terminal is serving their purpose.

    “We are also taking our guests the ‘cashless way’ with our ‘pay with Dana Miles’ initiative and we have created multiple channels for our guests to be able to reach and interact with us daily.”

    On expansion plans, he said DANA Air after a rigorous audit was selected for an airline partnership with the Imo state government to provide jobs for the people of the state, boost commercial activities and diversifies the economy of the state.

    He said: “Only our commitment towards maintaining our operational efficiency could have given us the edge for such partnership and we have commenced strategic plans to cover even more eastern routes while strengthening and providing options in our expansion drive to other parts of the country.

    “This is also part of the desire of the Imo State Government, to open the Eastern part of Nigeria; to further business opportunities, connectivity and maintain its position as the commercial hub of Nigeria.

    “We once again thank our guests for finding us worthy of nomination for our numerous Airline of the Year awards, our unveiling as one of Nigeria’s 100 most respected companies, one of Nigeria’s top 50 brands for the second time consecutively and 4th consecutive Best Customer Service airline at the Nigerian Customer Service Awards.

    “We avail this opportunity to wish ourselves many more years in the aviation industry and our desire is to see an aviation industry devoid of the multiple issues that airlines have to grapple with, and improved airport facilities.

    “We commend the efforts President Muhammadu Buhari led administration, the Minister of Aviation, Captain Hadi Sirika, and the regulators for their commitment towards the ease of doing business and we hope that these efforts are sustained.

    “We also thank our guests for their patronage, support and loyalty. We shall be giving out 900 free return tickets, upgrade to Gold membership for our Dana Miles Silver members and loads of surprise packages to our guests for being wonderful as well.

    “Our vision is to be recognized and respected as Nigeria’s most reliable and customer-friendly airline, and our mission is to earn the loyalty and respect of our customers by consistently demonstrating our commitment to service, and providing affordable regional air transport services that focus on innovation, quality and service excellence.”

    He said: “Since commencing flight operations on November 10, 2008, we are proud to have come this far, creating an exemplary model and setting the standards for a sustainable and efficient airline operation in Nigeria.

    “We are also proud to have flown over 2.7 million passengers in the last nine years of our operation and the fact that our on-time performance, world-class in-flight service and customer-centric innovations are still unrivalled.
    “This is a testament to our obvious passion to keep flying high and offering the best of air transport in the industry.”

  • Dana Air wins customer service award

    Dana Air wins customer service award

    Dana Air has been named the Best Customer Service Airline for the fourth year running at the Nigerian Customer Experience Management Conference and Awards, which held in  Abuja last week.

    The award was presented to the airline at the fifth edition of the conference with the theme: ‘The Move from Customer Service to Customer Experience.’.

    Customer Service Awards Limited Managing Director, Dr. Aliyu O.Ilias, said, Dana Air clinched the award as a result of its commitment to the principles of customer experience management.

    He said the airline’s nomination and selection were done through Customers’ feedback, online polls, Independent survey and mystery  shopping services.

    Responding to the award, Dana Air Media and Communications Manager, Kingsley Ezenwa, said winning the Best Customer Service Award for the fourth time was a confirmation that its investment in creativity, technology, and customer-centric initiatives is paying off.

    He said: “We appreciate the organisers of the award and the flying public for appreciating the efforts that we are making to give the best of everything we offer.

    “Only recently and based on popular demands from our teeming passengers, we opened a new office at Silverbird Galleria on Victoria Island, Lagos, to create that presence for our guests around the Island and its axis. We also recently created a Special Service Unit to cater to the urgent needs of our guests at the airports in Lagos, Abuja, and Uyo.

    “We still have our self check-in kiosk at the MMA2, the first of its kind at the terminal, our partnership with zowasel.com to offer our guests great discounts at partner outlets is getting positive reviews, the pay with Dana Miles concept and more.

    “Just to mention a few of the initiatives we have put in place to enhance customer experience. We dedicate this award to our staff for their professionalism.’’

     

  • Benefits of IATA membership, by Dana Air

    Accountable Manager, Dana Air, Obi Mbanuzuo, has described  the airline’s membership of the International Air Transport Association (IATA)  as  a milestone to demonstrate its professionalism and commitment to operational efficiency.

    In an interview, Mbanuzuo said the IATA membership came two years after the airline passed the  International Operations Safety Audit (IOSA) and was admitted into the association’s global safety registry.

    Mbanuzuo said: “Becoming  a member of IATA is a significant milestone for us at Dana Air and this only demonstrates our level of professionalism and commitment to operational efficiency in terms of  providing our guests with safe, seamless and world-class air transport service in Nigeria.

    “Apart from the fact that this membership will further strengthen our relationship with other international airlines, we see it as an opportunity to take our amazing products to the global stage through interline and code-share agreements.’

    “You would recall that Dana Air is the first and only Nigerian airline to have undergone an operational audit conducted by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority and its foreign partners – The Flight Safety Group, and we are determined to reinforce our strategic route network within and beyond Nigeria.’’

    Dana Air has launched a Special Services Unit to attend to passengers with special needs, urgent complaints, update passengers on current promos and benefits of Dana Miles at the airports in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Uyo and Owerri.

  • Dana Air trains more pilots

    Dana Air has trained more Nigerian pilots in Johannesburg, South Africa and Madrid, Spai, its Accountable Manager, Mr. Obi Mbanuzuo, has said.

    The training, according to him, is part of its efforts to contribute to the growth to the industry.

    Also,the airline has introduced a Special Services Unit, consisting of well-trained personnel to, among others, attend to passengers with special needs, urgent complaints, update passengers on promos and benefits of Dana Miles at Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Uyo and Owerriaiports.

    Mbanuzuo said: ‘’Dana Air is committed to the growth and development of the aviation industry. As at 2015, more than 500 Nigerian pilots were unemployed, but with our recruitment and frequent training both locally and abroad since then, we have been able to reduce the number by engaging these pilots and paying for their training in South Africa and Spain.

    “We will continue to encourage professionalism in the industry and support our Nigerian pilots to ensure constant growth and development in the industry.’’

    Obi added: “We introduced the Special Services Unit to further deepen customer service, offer multiple issue-solving options and provide seamless travel experience for our teeming passengers.’’

     

  • Dana Air is IATA’s newest member

    Dana Air has formally been announced as the newest member of the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

    The IATA membership is coming just two years after the airline passed its International Operations Safety Audit (IOSA) and was admitted into the association’s global safety registry.

    The airline’s Accountable Manager, Mr Obi Mbanuzuo while responding to the airline’s latest achievement said: ’’Becoming a member of IATA is a significant milestone for us at Dana Air and this only demonstrates our level of professionalism and commitment to operational efficiency in terms of  providing our guests with safe, seamless and world-class air transport service in Nigeria.

    ‘Apart from the fact that this membership will further strengthen our relationship with other international airlines, we see it as an opportunity to take our amazing products to the global stage through interline and code-share agreements.’

    ‘You would recall that Dana Air is the first and only Nigerian airline to have undergone an operational audit conducted by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and its foreign partners – The Flight Safety Group, and we are determined to reinforce our strategic route network within and beyond Nigeria.’’

    Dana Air in furtherance of its much-vaunted customer- centric products, recently launched a Special Services Unit attend to passengers with special needs, urgent complaints, update passengers on current promos and benefits of Dana Miles at the airports in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Uyo and Owerri.

  • Dana Air gets IATA membership

    Dana Air gets IATA membership

    Nigerian Carrier, Dana Air has been formally announced as the newest member of The International Air Transport Association (IATA).

    The IATA membership is coming just two years after the airline passed its International Operations Safety Audit (IOSA) and was admitted into the association’s global safety registry.

    The Accountable Manager of Dana Air, Mr. Obi Mbanuzuo while responding to the airline’s latest achievement said,’’ becoming a member of IATA is a significant milestone for us at Dana Air and this only demonstrates our level of professionalism and commitment to operational efficiency in terms of  providing our guests with safe, seamless and world-class air transport service in Nigeria.

    “Apart from the fact that this membership will further strengthen our relationship with other international airlines, we see it as an opportunity to take our amazing products to the global stage through interline and code-share agreements.’’

    “You would recall that Dana Air is the first and only Nigerian airline to have undergone an operational audit conducted by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority and its foreign partners – The Flight Safety Group, and we are determined to reinforce our strategic route network within and beyond Nigeria.’’

    Dana Air in furtherance of its much-vaunted customer-centric products, recently launched a Special Services Unit attend to passengers with special needs, urgent complaints, update passengers on current promos and benefits of Dana Miles at the airports in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Uyo and Owerri.

    The circular also said that the offer would close on Friday.