Air safety: IATA gives Nigeria, others thumbs up
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said it was excited with Africa’s impeccable air safety record, which it said has improved over the years.
The clearing house for over 290 global airlines stated also that the continent has had no jet hull losses for two years running and is two years free of any fatalities on any aircraft type.
The Director-General of IATA, Alexandre de Junaic made these known in a statement he sent to Woleshadarenews from the concluded African Airlines Association (AFRAA) Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Casablanca, Morocco.
IATA lamented however, that only 24 African states complied with at least 60 per cent of International Civil Aviation Organisation Standard Recommended Practices (ICAO SARPS).
It also stated that it’s clear that progress is being made, but quick to point out that there is need to do more to sustain the record.
De Junaic urged governments to recognize the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) in their safety oversight programs.
“That is not good enough,” said de Juniac, who encouraged states to make global safety standards a top priority.
He noted that with IOSA carriers performing three times better than airlines not on the IOSA registry, IATA has a convincing argument.
Similarly, states, he reiterated, must push forward greater adoption of ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPS).
The good air safety record in Nigeria is majorly down to the help of IATA to map out strategies to secure her airspace and curb series of accidents that bedevilled her aviation sector.
It was also due to enormous work of the aviation regulatory body, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) in its oversight functions.
The major drive to end air crashes in Nigeria was ignited by the tragic accidents of 2005 and 2006 when the country and the world became fixated by avoidable bloodletting in the air, which many wished would never happen again.
The Sosoliso Flight 1145 in Port Harcourt on December 10, 2005 with 108 fatalities who were largely children, ADC Airlines Flight 53 in Abuja where prominent Nigerians died on October 29, 2006 with 97 fatalities out of 110 on board and the Bellview Airlines Flight 210 on October 22, 2005, where all 117 souls on board were lost at Lisa, Ogun state of Nigeria.
These tragedies left so much pain in the hearts of Nigerians and cast Nigeria’s airspace as one of the most dangerous in Africa, as the continent had the uncomplimentary record as the most accident-prone in the world.
The desire to correct these anomalies prompted the IATA to pick interest in Nigeria.
But there is something in Nigeria that may only be found in few African countries. Nigeria has a population of compulsive travellers. It has the record of the highest number of indigenous travellers, which is a rarity in the continent.
Although less than one percent of Nigerians travel by air, the country’s passenger traffic in 2017 rose to little 15 million and there are indications that this could double in no distant time, as the economy improves and enhances the citizens’ purchasing power.
So there was need to end the frequent accidents in the country. As a veritable market, the mega carriers from Europe, Middle East and recently from the US could not stay away from Nigeria despite its unsafe airspace then.
Experts in the sector have disclosed that the reason Nigeria have had good safety record over the years is basically because airlines were principally responsible for safety and intensified their human capital development.
President, Aviation Round Table, Gbenga Olowo, noted that in the past five years, the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) have made its members to be principally responsible for safety and not necessarily the regulatory body.
“Airlines in their strive for safety also do not go the extra mile to subject themselves to audit by other jurisdiction outside its own registration. For example, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) certification in addition to that of the NCAA have made air safety better in Nigeria and in Africa”, Olowo stated.
He explained that carriers have also identified human capital development through routine and schedule training for all pilots in particular error account for about 80 per cent of all aviation accidents.
He disclosed that there has also been implementation of safety management system and more budgets have been set aside for maintenance and dedicated account for maintenance reserve as accident is planned through neglect and poor maintenance.
