Author: Wole Shadare

Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika, oversees the aviation sector in a system where he is a junior minister to the Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi. Since he took over, Sirika made airport concession one of the policies of the Federal Government to enhance infrastructural development in the sector.   Four airports are considered for concession. They are the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja, the Mallam Aminu Kano International…

Northwest Texas Healthcare System and Med-Trans Corporation have expanded their LIFESTAR partnership with the addition of a state-of-the-art, pressurized turboprop airplane.   The twin-engine aircraft, which operates with critical care flight nurses and paramedics from the Amarillo-based healthcare system and flight crews from Med-Trans, is based at Rick Husband Amarillo National Airport. The LIFESTAR King Air E-90 airplane, with a 1,400-mile range, will service parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado and New Mexico.   It…

*Shops for N72b for ex-Airways workers *Airlines, marketers to save N34b yearly       The problem associated with scarcity of aviation fuel would soon be a thing of the past when government finalises work on Kaduna and Port-Harcourt refineries that would be dedicated solely to the refining of aviation fuel. Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika made the disclosure on the side-line of a stakeholders’ meeting at the weekend said for the operators to…

* Passenger Numbers to Double by 2035   The International Air Transport Association (IATA) urged governments in Latin America and the Caribbean to work with industry to make infrastructure a priority in unlocking aviation’s economic and social benefits.   Passenger demand in Latin America and the Caribbean is expected to more than double from 298 million in 2015 to 658 million in 2035. If that demand is met, the number of jobs supported by aviation…

The Board of Directors of the Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc., (nahco aviance) has dissociated itself from what it termed unfounded, malicious and false information to the effect that the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Company, Mr. Norbert Bielderman, has been sacked or forced to resign.    In a statement, the Board said, “For the avoidance of doubt, Mr. Norbert Bielderman remains the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Company. He has not and…

  *Celebrates five years intern programme Delta Air Lines is celebrating five successful years of its intern programme in Africa. The scheme offers a 12-month contract to post-graduate students in Lagos, Nigeria; Accra, Ghana; Dakar, Senegal; and Nairobi, Kenya, to gain hands-on knowledge and experience of working for a multi-national company.   The programme underscores Delta’s commitment to Africa, by helping young people from underprivileged backgrounds acquire the skills they need to get ahead in…

AirlineRatings.com has named its best airlines of 2017, with Air New Zealand, Qantas, Singapore Airlines and Etihad all placing high on the leaderboard. Also among the best rated carriers are British Airways, Lufthansa, Air Nippon, Lufthansa, Eva, Virgin Atlantic/Virgin Australia.   This was the outcome of rating conducted by AirlineRatings.com, the world’s foremost safety and product rating website. Air New Zealand came first as its 2017 Airline of the Year for the fourth consecutive year….

*Sets to announce bidders for airport concession, national carrier in two week The Federal Government has indicated its desire to raise passenger traffic from the current 15 million recorded annually to 60 million  with the provision of world class infrastructure at many of the nation’s international airports. This is coming as winners of the bid for airport concession are expected to be announced in a fortnight.  Government would also announce modalities for setting up a…

Proliferation of aerodromes across the country has been attributed to the dearth of air traffic controllers in the nation’s aviation industry. Nigeria currently has over 25 airports and continuous building of airports by state governors would continue to overstretch the few air traffic controllers, as most of the facilities are handed to the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), despite the low traffic they record. Director of Administration,…

*Needs N5 billion to relocate control tower, fire station *Sirika alarmed over 88 GMs in aviation, more to go *Aviation security to be armed               The Federal Government is in a dilemma over what to do with new Abuja airport terminal following report that the terminal which is expected to be commissioned early next year was wrong sited because of blockage of the control tower and the fire service station….