Stakeholders Call for FG’s Support for Domestic Airlines Due to Rising Cost of Operation

•Nigerian airlines get more slots to fly back pilgrims from Saudi Arabia

Chinedu Eze in Lagos and Hammed Shittu in Makkah

Aviation industry stakeholders have said Nigerian airlines are in precarious situation and need the support of the federal government to remain in business, insisting that the sector needs total overhaul to enable its carriers become competitive and profitable.

This was just as the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria(NAHCON) yesterday, in Saudi Arabia, announced that it has secured more slots for the Nigerian licenced carriers so as to ensure homeward journey of pilgrims to the country without further delay.

The operators who spoke on the need for the federal government to support domestic airlines, noted that many extraneous factors were militating against their successful operation, as Air Peace said it had encountered 18 bird strike incidents in 2023 alone with two of its aircraft experiencing the incidents in one day at Benin Airport.

Also, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of King Airlines, Sen. Musa Adede, accused the past aviation ministers, especially Sen. Stella Oduah and Sen. Hadi Sirika, as those who contributed to the degeneration of the industry in recent years.

The stakeholders made these known at the second quarter of the Brunch Business Meeting with the theme: ‘Aviation Reset: Agenda for the New Dispensation (Increasing the Numbers),’ organised by Aviation Round Table (ART).

They lamented that the sector was inundated by several factors, including inability to secure credit facility at low interest rate, paucity of foreign exchange, inadequate and obsolete airport infrastructure, lack of local maintenance facility and inimical policies.

Comparing government’s role in Nigeria’s aviation sector with other countries, the stakeholders said government in many countries realise that aviation was catalyst to economic development and provide adequate support to the sector so that it would continue to lubricate the chain of economic development. They, however, regretted that some of the policies in Nigeria tend to indicate that government wants the local operators to go under.

Adede, said it was necessary for the industry to embark on reset exercise at this time as a new administration takes the centre stage in the country.

He explained that it was important for the industry to re-examine itself through a thorough cleaning, stressing that the policies of the past years retrograded the industry.

He also condemned the planned re-establishment of a national carrier for Nigeria by the past administration, saying that the idea was no longer in vogue.

He said: “As it is, there is no unity among the airline operators either scheduled, chartered or helicopters. They are all working in isolation. The aviation ministry too is not helping the industry to grow. Our airports are very dirty.

“The former ministers in the sector, especially Oduah and Sirika, who claimed to be a captain, killed the sector. Our ministers have sold out in drafting the agreements with foreign airlines and governments.”

For the sector to compete with others, Adede said the aviation  sub-sector required about N50 billion support from the government.

He also pointed out that the policy of renewing Air Operators’ Certificate (AOC) for airlines every three years by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) was archaic, stressing that in developed countries, the certificates are held for life.

“NCAA is still archaic. They are not computer literate and not compliant. They ask you for volumes of documents that they will never read,” he added.

In his contribution, the Chairman of Air Peace, Allen Onyema said the policies of the government contributed to the quick death of the domestic airlines.

Onyema, explained that Air Peace in the first half of 2023, lost 18 aircraft to bird strike incidents without any compensation from the government.

According to him, Air Peace lost two of its aircraft engines to bird strike incidents in one day at Benin Airport.

He disclosed that the first aircraft on take-off was struck by a bird so it had to discharge the passengers and another aircraft, the brand new Embraer 195 E2, was deployed to bring in the passengers to their destination but on take-off it was also struck by a bird, making it two aircraft damaged in one day at the same airport.

He said that the airline spent $3.2 million to replace the damaged parts of the aircraft.

He frowned at the recent statistics of flight delays and cancellations made public by NCAA, saying it was not comprehensive enough.

According to him, if the regulatory authority released the number of flight delays on the domestic routes it ought to also publish the cause of the delays.

Onyema, identified VIP movement, weather, poor and inadequate infrastructure, forex, fuelling and weather, among other challenges that contributed to flight delays and cancellations in Nigeria.

“Bring the best airlines into Nigeria and without any government support, they will not last 72 hours. Is it the duty of the airline operators to start chasing wildlife?

“Air Peace this year alone has lost 18 aircraft to bird strike incidents. When we are criticising the airlines on delays and cancellations, we should also look at the causes of the delays and cancellations.

“How about the congestions at our airports? Go to Abuja airport and find out some of these challenges,” he said.

Also, the President, Aviation Round Table (ART), Dr. Gabriel Olowo, said private investors in the industry were discouraged due to lack of necessary support and the will by government, saying that government could not exonerate itself from the deaths of the past carriers.

Meanwhile, NAHCON has secured more slots for Nigerian licenced carriers so as to ensure homeward journey of pilgrims to the country without further delay.

Before the approval, Nigerian pilgrims used to wait endlessly to return to the country after the completion of hajji exercise almost after two weeks.

In a statement issued in Makkah, after the meeting of NAHCON with the Saudi Arabia authorities via the General Authority on Civil Aviation (GACA), it was agreed to give Nigerian airlines more slots to operate flight back home of pilgrims.

The statement which was signed by the NAHCON’s Deputy Director of Media and Publication, Alhaji Mousa Ubandawaki stated that, “With the situation, Max Airline with three aircraft on its fleet will be able to operate all the aircraft to Nigeria every day, the same with Aero Contractors, Air peace, Azman and Arik Air which is dedicated to the airlift of private tour operators.

“Beginning from tomorrow (Wednesday, 12th July, 2023), all the Nigerian licenced carriers would begin to operate their in-bound flight to Nigeria optimally.

“The new development is expected to ease the strain on the agitation of Nigerian pilgrims who have been anxious to return to Nigeria since the conclusion of the Hajj rites on the 30th June.

“It will also increase the pace of the airlift operation which have been bogged down by non-availability of slots to the Nigerian licensed carriers especially by the Saudi Civil Aviation Authority.”

The statement added that, “the Commission have been disturbed about the situation which solution she had been battling with since the commencement of the second phase of the airlift operation.”