Author: Wole Shadare

Minister of State, Aviation, Hadi Sirika has assured unions in the aviation industry that no workers will be sacked in the proposed concessioning of the four major airports in the country just as he disclosed the all the 22 airports will be concession in the second phase. Speaking while meeting with the unions represented by the Air Transport Senior Staff Services of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) and the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) in Lagos…

Nigeria spends a whooping N6.3 billion annually to have her crew go for recurrent pilots’ training overseas, WoleshadareNews has learnt. This, according to a 2014 report published by the Federal Government, is because of lack of simulator aircraft to train Nigerian pilots locally. It has been ascertained that an airline with four aircraft spends at least $600,000 on simulator training for its pilots. This means that the airline spends $150,000 on pilot training for each…

*Urges FG to halt concession of four aerodromes The National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) rose from a meeting it held in Ilorin, Kwara State with a call to the Federal Government to halt the rot in the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), saying the situation could help to save the sector from another plane crash. Experts have condemned the agency from living up to expectation in its oversight and regulatory functions with so…

The United Nation has concluded plans to establish two aviation security training schools in Nigeria. The main objective of the project is to support the nation’s overall counter-terrorism strategy by providing a key element of a robust national aviation security policy that mitigates effectively the threat posed to civil aviation by terrorist organisations and their operatives. Briefing the Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika in his office, the United Nations-appointed Project Manager for the…

*Malaysia confirms it found another piece of crashed plane A wing flap that washed ashore on an island off Tanzania has been identified as belonging to missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, Australian officials said Thursday. This came as Malaysia said on Thursday that a large piece of aircraft debris discovered on the island of Pemba, off the coast of Tanzania, in June, was from the missing Malaysia Airlines jet MH370. The flap was found in June…

“Bellview’s 2008 plane bombed” Former Minister of Aviation, Mr. Femi Fani-Kayode disclosed that one of the plane crashes that occur in 2005 was as a result of a bomb planted inside the ill-fated aircraft, describing all the crashes that occurred between 2005 and 2006 as man-made. The former Minister did not mention the name of the airline, but everything points to Bellview B737-200 airplane that crashed in Lisa, Ogun State killing all 117 passengers on-board….

Nigerian flag carrier airline, Arik Air today resumed flight operations after 48 hours of shutting its services owing to issues bothering on renewal of its insurance. The airline’s first flight took off at about 1 pm with many passengers unsure when their flights would be as many flights already booked before the disruptions were rescheduled. Many who had planned to depart at 7am today following text messages received by the airline could not do so….

Prominent Nigerians where among hundreds of passengers that were left stranded in London following inability of Arik to airlift passengers from London Heathrow Airport. Some of the prominent Nigerians were former Governor of Ogun and Cross River States, Aremo Olusegun Osoba and Donald Duke. One of the passengers who called yesterday alleged that Arik Air cancelled its Sept 13 flight to Nigeria without telling the passengers the whys and wherefores surrounding such unilateral decision.  …

  *Situation may continue for days-Airline * We will be back-Arik’s CEO   We are Scores of passengers across the country from New York, Johannesburg and London booked on Arik Air were left stranded following the inability of the airline to airlift them to their destinations. Idowu showunmi who called Woleshadare.net from London expressed his frustration, saying they were left stranded at Heathrow Airport. Many others called from Accra, New York and across West Africa…

Wole Shadare Passengers travelling to Accra and other West African nations are in for a tough time as no airline ply the lucrative Lagos Accra route. The only Nigerian airline, Arik Air curr‎ently operating to Accra, Ghana could not operate out of Lagos to Accra and other destinations left so many people travelling to the neighbouring West Africa nation stranded. Before now, Arik Air, Dana, Medview and Aero Contractors dominated the West African market, connecting…