Apathy as airlines’ bounce back
***Stimulus package will revive sector-Aero MD
***Travel to pick up in Q4-Ojuri
Air Peace, Max Air, Arik and Ibom Air had considerable number of passengers with the limited flight services they operated.
Although, operations started late for three of the four airlines that airlines operated out of Lagos and into Lagos, passengers who spoke to Woleshadarenews said they were happy to fly again.
Few passengers were seen boarding the first domestic flight out of Lagos by Arik Air at about 7.05 am at the Lagos airport. The airline’s B737-700 plane was greeted with traditional water salute at the arrival in Abuja.
A passenger who declined to give her name said she works in a big law firm in Lagos while her family resides in Abuja.
She said she was scheduled to travel on the March 23, 2020, the day the airspace was shut, adding that she thought the lock-down would only last for just two weeks until the Federal Government kept postponing resumption of flights due to the spread of the deadly disease.
“I can’t wait to see my family. We speak with each other every day, but you can’t compare that with being with your loved ones. Family is everything. I have missed my family”, she said with so much excitement.
She disclosed that she dreaded travelling by road because of so many chilly stories of armed robbery and kidnapping on the roads, stressing that she decided to wait for when the airspace would be re-opened before embarking on her trip to Abuja.
A businessman who simply gave his name as Stanley expressed joy at the resumption of domestic flight services.
He commended the Federal Government for its investment in the aviation sector especially the protocols to limit the spread of coronavirus.
He urged the government to sustain what he described as a good step to curtail the spread of the disease at the country’s aerodromes.
Experts however stated that that there will be a “significant rebound” in the aviation industry once borders start to open up.
Managing Director, Air Contractors, Capt. Ado Sanusi told our correspondent that he is very confident that the airlines would bounce back especially with the anticipation of the stimulus package that is expected to be pumped into the economy by the Federal Government.
Air travel has been badly affected by the ongoing coronavirus crisis, with demand evaporating as countries scramble to limit the spread of the disease.
According to Sanusi, “We will bounce back and especially with the stimulus package that will be pumped into the economy. We have to accept the fact that leisure travel will definitely drop; business travel will be the one that airlines will target. As much as business travel will be reduced to minimal, the moment there is a stimulus package injected into the economy of the country, we will be there because aviation is the facilitator of the economic growth or economic recovery”.
“We will be there to play our role for the recovery of the economy. It has shown with the first day and I believe it will continue to show how people will react to the travel industry”, he added.
Managing Partner, Aglow Aviation Support Services Limited, Mr. Tayo Ojuri said most of the people that travelled today are people that got stuck due to the close down.
“We see a spike due to the lock-down in the next two weeks but we do not see the enthusiasm to travel because there is still the apathy towards travel due to coronavirus because there is still spike in coronavirus everyday. There is no vaccine. The other which is the driving factor in our clime is the economy”.
“The economy has not been on six cylinders; it is still very slow. There has been cut down in budget and even those that have not started implementing in full throttle. Those two things actually do not make travel to increase. All these buttress the fact that there won’t be a very big pickup even with domestic flights. Lastly, we do not have a startup date for international travel.
“International travel is about 30 per cent of domestic travel. Since we don’t have a date for international flight resumption, we can’t say domestic operations will pick up. A lot of people come for meeting from abroad, they travel locally too. All these put together does not show objectively and in realistic terms that there will be a growth in travel traffic for the third and fourth quarter”, Ojuri added.
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