Aviation

The first Airbus A319neo performed its maiden flight today, The smallest member of the A320neo Family, powered by CFM International LEAP-1A  engines took off from Hamburg and landed in Toulouse after a five hour flight. It was piloted by Experimental test pilots Michel Gagneux and Eckard Hausser. They were assisted in the cockpit by Test-Flight Engineer Jean Michel Pin, while two flight test engineers Sylvie Loisel-Labaste and David O’nions directed the flight from the aircraft’s…

Despite desperate motives of some mischievous elements in the society to ridicule the efforts of the government to rehabilitate ailing Arik Airline, which recently came under receivership due to gross mismanagement and heavy debt profile, the management of the airline has reiterated the fact that it would continue to pay priority attention to safety, which Arik is known for.   This is coming as the new management has ordered more aircraft spares, which it said…

  *Carriers owe NCAA N2.5b     The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) said its final ultimatum to airlines to automate their remittance of the statutory five per cent Ticket Sales/Cargo Sales Charge (TSC/CSC) ends tomorrow. Airlines risk N500, 000 fine if they fail to comply with the aviation regulatory directive, according to spokesman for NCAA, Sam Adurogboye.   Adurogboye told Woleshadare.net that the idea was to bring transparency to the system by ensuring that…

 Economic recession, coupled with shortage of dollars, high costs and scarce fuel supplies has created a storm in the aviation industry, reports WOLE SHADARE     Nigerian airline business has come a long way and has faced a lot of challenges for survival. For now, the country has eight airlines operating scheduled flights. They are Aero Contractors, Dana, Arik, Overland, Azman, FirstNation, Air Peace and Medview. In spite of the seeming growth of the sector,…

Stops flight taking 100 immigrants home Up to twelve activists broke through security at Stanstead Airport late yesterday night chained themselves together on the runway to stop failed asylum seekers being deported. The left-wing activists were trying to stop a flight taking up to 100 immigrants back to Nigeria and Ghana.     The runway was closed at about 8pm resulting in eight flights being diverted to other London airports. But by 9.30pm the airport was running as…

  The recent appointments in some key agencies of the aviation sector to say the least are less than satisfactory. One would have thought that due diligence was done before some people were brought to man sensitive positions in a sector that is highly life dependent.    Not a few were wondering if these changes would bring desired result and make the sector better, or one that the Ministry of Aviation is pursuing to provide…

 They anticipated a boom when Kaduna airport was hurriedly put together to allow for Abuja airport repair. But the reverse is the case WOLE SHADARE writes   Cloudy sky  The blue skies of Kaduna airport should be clear for airlines but they are not. Fuel bills may be a fraction of their problem; but there are some nasty headwinds appearing.  Nigerian airlines have clandestinely announced a fall in ticket price that shot up to between N38,…

**Lagos, Abuja to get ICAO certification            Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika said he was ready to resign if the Abuja airport runway is not fixed within the six weeks slated for completion of work on the facility that defied new maintenance procedure, necessitating the shutdown of the facility. This came as the Minister disclosed that the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos is in line for certification May this year…

The  Federal Government may have concluded plans to offset the entitlements of ex workers of Nigeria Airways 14 years after the carrier was liquidated. The government is shopping for N73 billion to pay off the workers.   A source close to the Ministry of Transport, told our correspondent that the final retirement benefits may be paid to the workers from next month. This is coming as many of the ex workers based in the West coast…

The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has said the facilities at the Kaduna International Airport are in proper condition. The Acting General Manager, Safety Services Elifue Agbi during media inspection at the Kaduna International Airport said: “The operations at the airport since the diversion of traffic from Abuja airport has been smooth. To move traffic to this place, we decided that the airport should be upgraded and the upgrade was done. We make sure…