Author: Wole Shadare

  The House of Representatives has said it discovered over N65 billion unremitted  revenue by the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) between 2014 to 2019. Chairman of the House Committee on Finance, Hon. James Faleke, made the allegations at a an interactive session with offcicials of FAAN at the National Assembly. He disclosed that records available to the committee show that FAAN remitted only N9 billion out of the N74 billion it was suppose…

     Air France, KLM, Delta and Virgin Atlantic have launched their expanded joint venture offering a greater choice of routes and loyalty options when travelling between Europe, the U.K. and North America.   The new partnership provides customers with more convenient flight schedules and a shared goal of ensuring a smooth and consistent travel experience, whichever airline people fly.  The partnership also provides the flexibility to book flights on any of the four carriers through their…

  Five new airlines are at the verge of joining existing ones. While it broadens the space for competition, WOLE SHADARE writes on how to mitigate the descent into a dog fight with no winner because of Nigeria’s low propensity to fly Rearing to go The country may witness very stiff competition in the airline industry as five new airlines are set to debut. It is not yet clear the stages they have gone in the acquisition…

  Workers begin toll collection A fresh crisis is brewing between the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and one of its biggest concessionaires I-Cube Nigeria Limited over a contractual agreement leading to forceful take-over of the access toll gates of the airport linking International wing of Lagos airport with Ikeja. As early as 7 am, the unions in aviation like the Air Transport Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSAN), National Union of Air Transport…

  Begin massive revenue drive The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) has given a 30-day final demand notice to debtor airlines and private /state owned airports to settle all outstanding debts owed to the agency. The agency in a statement made available to journalists also threatened to ground debtor airlines from February 28th, 2020 as NAMA set to embark on massive revenue recovery said to be in the region of N10b. Woleshadarenews exclusively reported yesterday the plan by…

Agency broke, can’t meet pension obligations, others Action to disrupt flight operations  The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) is in serious financial dire strait and has concluded plans to ground airlines that are indebted to it. The situation of NAMA is precarious that grounding airlines to recover debts  is the last  option it has to remain afloat. The situation has seriously affected the smooth running of the agency. Failure to quickly resolve the issue could…

Director, Safety Electronics and Engineering Services of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Engr. Farouk Ahmed Umar who recently was honoured by the Federal Government with the prestigious National Productivity Order of Merit Award (NPOM) has dedicated his award to the Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika for his outstanding achievements in the aviation industry. Farouk Umar was among 28 recipients that were hosted by President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday in  Abuja. Shortly after that, he…

The company that operated the helicopter that crashed on Sunday in Calabasas, California, killing Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven others has suspended operations. Island Express Helicopters made the announcement in a statement Thursday A preliminary NTSB report into Sunday’s crash is expected next week. The company acknowledged on Monday that it owned the Sikorsky S-76 helicopter that crashed and that it was cooperating with a National Transportation Safety Board investigation. Bryant chartered the Sunday flight…

  Boeing suffered its first full-year loss in more than two decades, its latest financial results show. Fourth quarter results published on Wednesday show that the company lost $636 million in 2019 compared to a $10.46 billion profit in 2018. Revenues for the final quarter of 2019 were $17.91 billion compared with $28.34 billion during the same period in 2018. Revenue for the full-year in 2019 was $76.6 billion. Boeing unsurprisingly cited the ongoing 737 Max…

  Shuttle airline service is being reinforced as a new entrant shifts away from the popular triangular operations, WOLE SHADARE writes Game change A departure from the past where airlines compete on the triangular routes of Lagos-Abuja-Port-Harcourt seems to be on the card. Aero Contractors tried it in the 90s and became instant hit when it introduced shuttle services between Lagos and Warri, Delta state with about 50 seater airplanes. It developed into smaller airports and reaped…