Accra: what attraction for Nigeria airlines
The demise of Ghana Airways, Nigeria Airways and Air Afrique made interconnectivity within the West African sub-region very difficult. But the Nigerian airlines are now filling the gap, as they dominate the region, writes WOLE SHADARE
Big attraction
What could be the attractions for Nigerian airlines, as four of her carriers scramble for Accra route? Medview, Arik, Aero and Dana have all made Accra their fortress, providing air services to the city and connecting flights from there to other West and Central African countries.
A top official of one of the airlines told woleshadare.net that government can turn the West coast routes into domestic operations because Nigeria has dominance and in doing so, this will get some returns for the country. The Accra route is supposed to be an international flight, but many see Lagos-Accra route more as domestic route rather than international operation because of its proximity to Nigeria – just 45 minute journey by air and less than six hours by road.
It is not surprising that West Africa’s aviation industry is being led forward by Nigeria and Ghana. Sub-Saharan Africa is showing a solid macroeconomic performance, with many economies now growing at rates close to their precise average.
Nigeria is slightly slower in its growth rates, reporting a smaller-than-two percentage point difference from pre-crisis levels. Ghana, on the other hand, is one of the continents fastest growing. Nigeria and Ghana are headlining growth in West Africa, but it is mainly being captured by foreign (US, Middle East and European) carriers in the absence of financial stable and internationally competitive local airlines.
Meanwhile, Airbus estimates only five other cities in Africa will become an “airline megacity” – Accra (Ghana, West Africa), Lagos (Nigeria, West Africa), Luanda (Angola, Central Africa), Addis Ababa (Ethiopia, East Africa) and Nairobi (Kenya, East Africa). Johannesburg (South Africa, Southern Africa) is already a megacity, according to Airbus.
Going down memory lane
Nigeria Airways had a troubled and erratic time during its 56-year history. In 2003, a new airline, named Transatlantic Airlines, operated for a few weeks before it collapsed, leaving hundreds stranded. Next, the joint venture attempted by Virgin, resulting in the creation of Virgin Nigeria, also had a brief and colourful life before Virgin divested itself of the association.
The remnant operated domestic and regional routes as Air Nigeria. Bellview Airlines had a similar poor track record. Founded in 1992, it finally disappeared in 2009 with many of its aircraft still derelict in Lagos. The owners then began a new carrier called FirstNation Airways. Both nations have a repetitive tale of failure in aviation.
Ghana Airways on the other hand, ceased operations in Aug- 2004, shortly after it was banned from US airspace. Ghana Airways suffered a wealth of problems including under-capitalisation and premismanagement. The carrier’s fleet, comprised of Soviet-built Ilyushin jets, could only be serviced in Russia.
Ghana Airways served Russia but it was a loss-making route – most passengers were government officials who travelled for free. Ghana International Airways (GIA) was established to replace Ghana Airways when it folded. GIA launched operations in Oct- 2005 but was plagued with similar problems to Ghana Airways.
In May-2010, GIA ceased operations, making it the second causality to Ghana’s aviation industry in six years. Nigerian registered carriers appear locked in a keen competition to determine who takes the biggest pie out of the West African aviation market.
Shift in investment vision
Aside the Accra route, the airlines’ scramble for the West Coast was not only because of the absence of national carriers in those countries, but rather signals a shift in the investment vision of the Federal Government targeted at supporting private sector operators to rake in funds from the region to compensate for her many years of playing the big brother role in some of those countries.
So far, four of Nigeria’s notable airlines, Arik Air, Aero Contractors, Med-View Airlines and Dana are currently enjoying what is obviously a monopoly of routes within the sub-region operating daily scheduled and chartered flights to countries like Ghana, Togo, The Gambia, Benin Republic, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Cameroon and even as far as Sao Tome and Principe.
It may not be just aviation that seems to be benefiting from the new shift to economic diplomacy by the Nigerian government. Meanwhile, officials of the Nigerian airlines plying the West African routes have acknowledged that traffic has been very encouraging.
This, according to some observers, was necessitated by the recent increase in the volume of trade relations between Nigeria and some of these countries. Another reason for the rising passenger traffic was the fact that Abuja and Lagos, two of Nigeria’s major cities, are also increasingly hosting a lot of trade, diplomatic, health and academic conferences that are attracting passengers into the country from the sub-region.
The sub-region is also attracting a lot of tourists and religious pilgrims. Managing Director/CEO of Med- View Airlines, Alhaji Muneer Bankole, whose airline began operations to Ghana recently, admitted the fact that Abuja and Lagos are playing a big role in raising the volume of air traffic into the country for domestic airlines.
He also listed increase in the number of Nigerian students studying in some of the West African countries as one other reason for a rise in traffic. “On our inaugural flight to Ghana, we were surprised at the number of Nigerian students and movie stars who booked and flew with us even when we did not do any public advertisement,” he said. Not a few believe that the commencement of the commercial air war would bring stiff and fair competition, which passengers from Lagos to Accra and Accra to Lagos have been looking forward to.
From the look of things, Dana is set to use its arsenals, which include low fare, comfort, friendly –in-flight service and on time departure to attract passengers to fly Dan Air. It would be recalled that before now, Aero, Arik and Medview had commenced flights on the regional route.
To further ensure that it secures part of the market share, the airline pegged its introductory online fare at N22, 000 for one-way, a situation that further endeared passengers to the airline. Bankole said, “We are the fourth airline operating into Accra from Nigeria, the quality services that we offer stand us out, we have on-time performance, good pricing, we have come back with renewed package to serve, with good quality in-flight refreshment and excellent cabin crew members, we will surpass our competitors”.
Conclusion
Considering the rush for West African route, especially the domination of Nigerian airlines, stakeholders have expressed concern over the over-saturation on the route, hoping the bubble won’t burst.
