Author: Wole Shadare

*Firms downsize, cut work force * Bristow explores new opportunities to meet demands   Helicopter operators said tumbling oil prices rippling through the helicopter industry have affected the big chunk of their business.   The helicopter market is struggling at the moment with stumbling oil price in the oil and gas market.   The operators who spoke to Woleshadare.net said the situation has cut their operations by half, leading to the release of hundreds of pilots…

The latest financial results from Q3 2016 continue to indicate another solid quarter for industry profitability, although there are ongoing signs that momentum in the profitability cycle has weakened; according to a report from International Air Transport Association (IATA). This is coming as global airline share prices jumped by 7.5 per cent in November – the biggest monthly increase since October 2015.  This was led by carriers in North America, whose index surged by 16.4…

*Insolvency, panic, as airlines risk grounding as insurance expires *Experts warn of consequences Nigerian carriers are beginning to panic over a recent disclosure that Lyold of London are planning to blacklist Nigerian airlines over their inability to pay their insurance premium. Lloyd’s of London, generally known simply as Lloyd’s, is an insurance market located in London’s primary financial district, the City of London. Unlike most of its competitors in the industry, it is not an insurance company. The…

There are indications that the country’s aviation travelling public may witness a complete cycle of sharp traffic decline this year if feelers from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), which is expected to make public its verdict next month, is anything to go by.   The report could see a decline following the trend of the reports of NBS for first and second quarters of 2016. NBS’s reports for first quarter showed total aviation passenger…

    It is one of travellers’ worst nightmares – being the last person at the airport conveyor belt and coming to that slow realisation that your bag isn’t coming, WOLE SHADARE writes It is an awful experience when an airline loses a passenger’s luggage, and it happens to hundreds of passengers every single day. Most “missing” bags are only delayed, as airlines have increasingly sophisticated systems of tracking them down and can usually do…

Wings Air Rescue’s four air medical helicopters are now carrying blood and plasma on all flights from their bases in Tennessee, Kentucky and Virginia. Wings Air Rescue is operated by Med-Trans Corporation.   Med-Trans President,  Rob Hamilton said in a statement that, “We are extremely excited to be working collaboratively with our health system partners at Mountain States Health Alliance and the Marsh Regional Blood Center to provide pre-hospital blood products to the patients that…

…Carriers can’t underwrite $500 m risk exposure for one airplane cover …AON seek FG’s assistance         Nigerian carriers cant underwrite Lloyd’s of London, the world’s leading insurance market, has issued a warning to Nigerian airline operators that it might be forced to blacklist the country in the face of continued failure of some operators to fulfil their obligations of paying their premiums to the insurer regularly.   Representatives of Lloyd’s of London market who were…

Factors ranging from increase in Jet A1 (aviation fuel) to its non-availability, down to access to foreign exchange to do business in aviation in Nigeria, is said to be 98 per cent dependent on foreign exchange. This, coupled with multiple charges that airlines have to bear, has made aviation business in Nigerian cumbersome and not looking good for the sub-sector.   Experts in the aviation sector who spoke to Woleshadare.net noted that the new reality…

*Offenders to undergo rehabilitation for drug abuse   In furtherance of its heightened safety oversight, he Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has suspended the medical certificates of five cabin crew members on account of drug related offences.   The aviation regulatory body in a statement said the five crew members (names withheld) tested positive to marijuana (Tetra Hydro Cannabinol – THC) during a Multi – Drug Screening Test (MDST) conducted on participants of the Cabin…