Gupta: Efficient Management Secret of NAHCO’s Success

Chinedu Eze

Group Managing Director of the Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc (NAHCO), Mr. Indranil Gupta has attributed the success of the company and profit recorded in the 2022 financial year to the strategic relationship management that NAHCO has across all its stakeholders and clients.

Gupta said the company’s profitability was also enhanced by strategic appointments and recruitment, deeper understanding of the operating environment, a commitment to excellent delivery of service and an outlook for the growth of NAHOC’S business concerns.

While explaining the company’s increase in tariffs for its services, Gupta said that NAHCO increased its tariff not to enhance its revenue, but to meet the increasing cost of doing business.

“For example, y-o-y, operating costs increased by 32 per cent while administrative costs increased by 45 per cent. The above notwithstanding, the increase in tariffs caused a 41 per cent increase in revenue in 2022 and a 270 per cent increase in profit after tax (PAT).

He also explained that with the implementation of the new tariffs, the prices of services have become quite competitive with the rest of Africa, adding that the commitment to safe operations, and adherence to SOPs (standard operating procedures) as spelled out in the Ground Handling Agents (GHA) and SLAs (Service Level Agreements) with client companies.

“The operating environment is quite safe and secure. The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and all the other airport authorities are committed to the security of the operating environment, ensuring adherence to safety procedures and enacting policies to cover all identified gaps.

“There are however a few challenges with the timely maintenance of some infrastructure provided by the airport authority like carousels, belts, scanning machines, etc. These should be properly maintained to prevent frequent breakdowns which hamper the efficient provision of our services,” the Group Managing Director said.

He also observed that the new tariffs have also made the market more attractive to new entrants, but however, noted that the industry is quite specialized with specific skill set requirements, huge capital investments and strict regulations which may be quite difficult for new entrants to meet.

“NAHCO has several projects which it is currently undertaking including the introduction of new Businesses like the Agri-Exports which achieved its first export of fresh pepper on the 10th of May 2023, the enhancement of our warehouses as well as other technology-related projects to improve service delivery and satisfaction of our clients,” he said.