July 31, (THEWILL) – Stakeholders in the nation’s aviation industry have declared that Nigeria has an aviation crisis and emergency in the operators’ hands as the number of airlines continues to shrink. Recently, some aviation staff had joined the general strike convened by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and two of the biggest and most recognised Nigerian airlines had stopped their flight operations.
First, it was Aero Contractors and two days later, it was the turn of Dana Air. Aero Contractors was forced to fold the wings of its scheduled flights due to exorbitant and unsustainable expenditures they have to incur in order to operate their scheduled flights and lack of equipment needed for their processes.
Similarly, Dana Air was forced to quit the field operation over poor liquidity by the apex regulator, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA). In both cases the result was stranded angry and, in some cases, violent passengers that had to deal with disrupted plans and the challenges of looking for replacement flights at prices way higher than what they initially budgeted and paid
According to aviation experts, the situation is a crisis because the high cost of flights and shutting down of airlines in a country as big as Nigeria looks very bad.
Prof Anthony Kila, Centre Director at Centre for International Advanced and Professional Studies (CIAPS), Lagos made the observation weekend at the 26th annual conference of the League of Airport and Aviation Correspondents (LAAC) with the theme: ‘Sunset Airports: Economic and Safety Implications,’ held in Lagos.
Prof Kila, therefore, advised that the authorities need to act swiftly and decisively to deal with this situation so that this very bad situation the country has at hand does not turn into an unmanageable disaster.
In his paper titled, ‘Time to Rethink and Reset Aviation,’ Kila stated that decisive actions in this case will require a total rethink and resetting of the way Nigeria conceive and manage their aviation manners. He pointed out that the impression that aviation is a sector that services the elites or the privileged, is however an anachronistic misconception that needs to be deliberately and assertively corrected.
Advising that the role of regulators in the sector needs to be radically modified, Kila said, “At the moment, our aviation regulators seem to come alive and are felt by many only when they disrupt, we seem to know they are there only after they have been grounded or suspended”.
“The regulator of a basic and essential service should be and must be seen to be committed to the delivery of services not its suspension, regardless of how noble their intentions are. The NCAA should be known for what it is doing to help airlines fly and we should all be educated to know that they are doing so because of the general good not as a favour to a company, private or public it does not matter”.
For the sake of consumers and citizens, Prof Kila also noted that aviation regulators should be working like a clearing house on ensuring that stranded passengers of delayed and cancelled flights can fly with the next available flights just as debit and credit card holders issued by one bank can easily withdraw money from the Automated Teller Machine (ATM) of any available bank.
Also worried about the state of aviation in the country, Mr George Uriesi, the Chief Operating Officer (COO), Ibom Air said that the lack of 24 hours flight operations to major routes in Nigeria was impeding the growth of the airlines.
According to Uriesi domestic airline operators in Nigeria have lost, at least N4.3 billion annually due to their restriction to operate 24 hours flight daily to the airports of their choice
Uriesi in his paper, ‘Maximising Runway Utilisation: A Nigerian Airline Perspective,’ stated that the country’s carriers are losing an average of N4 million per flight, N12 million in every flight, N360 million in 90 flights and N4.3 billion annually on every flight lost to sunset airport operations.
This restriction, Uriesi noted, has led to a huge underutilisation of aircraft fleets by the Nigerian airlines as against the global industry standards.
He added “This is due partly because of too many impediments in the operating environment that limit airline productivity. These include limited runway availability across the domestic network, multiple operational infrastructure deficiencies, poor organisation and many others.”
In a bid to solve the challenge, Uriesi appealed to the government to prioritise airfield infrastructure and provide the necessary Instrument Landing System (ILS) and accompanying accessories for every airport, while also keeping the aerodromes open to meet the needs of airlines and other users.
Besides, he advised that the government should make current, approved master plans a regulatory requirement for every airport and illegalize non-adherence to the master plans by any organisation.
“Establishing a local aircraft lessor /financing vehicle that would allow for the domiciling of aircraft payments in local currency would make a huge difference to the air transport sector in Nigeria,” he added.
However, the NCAA, apex aviation regulatory agency has attributed reasons why most airports in the country can only offer daylight operations to airports poor financial outlay/non-viability, inadequate airport and ANS infrastructure for night operations, security risks and threats, level of traffic/passengers’ activities.
In his presentation, Director General of NCAA, Capt Musa Nuhu who was represented by Engr. Tayib Adetunji Odunowo Director of Aerodrome and Airspace Standards (DAAS) suggested that what needs to be done to tackle the enumerated challenges are: develop the airport infrastructure, develop ancillary infrastructure, aerotropolis and to work towards growth in the national economy.
“The restriction of some airports to sunrise-sunset flight operations is therefore a means of eliminating or mitigating the safety implications/challenges associated with night operations”, Nuhu added.
Chairman, League of Airport and Aviation Correspondents, Mr Olusegun in his address, however, stated that both government and private business concerns should in policy formulation, also be concerned about the economic interest of airlines, handlers and other service providers.
He pointed out that a situation whereby a litre of Jet A1 goes as high as N800 is ridiculous. A situation where a dollar is now over N600 in the alternate market because that is the only avenue where business organisations now run to, to get the currency for operations is indefensible.
“Though our government attributes these challenges to the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, but, the League reiterates that our investors are vulnerable in their operations and cannot compete with the current situation,” he said.
About the Author
Anthony Awunor, is a business correspondent who holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Linguistics (UNILAG). He is also an alumnus of the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria Kaduna State. He lives in Lagos.
