Aviation

By Henrietta Yakubu Three weeks into the diversion of flights from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA) to Kaduna International Airport, for runway rehabilitation at the Abuja Airports, it would seem that the programme is going on as scheduled. Scores of flights have operated in and out of the airport showing its capability to handle international operations, in line with the assurance earlier given by government that the airport would provide a veritable alternate to…

The House of Representatives has  called for the liquidation of Arik Air that was recently taken over by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria penultimate month. The lawmakers expressed serious concern over the quality of loans that were acquired by AMCON from Eligible Financial Institutions (EFIs) in the country and called on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Federal Ministry of Finance among other regulators to immediately ensure that all wrongly declared loans…

*No going back on automation, may penalise defaulting carriers     The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has put the total indebtedness of airlines to the aviation regulatory body at N15 billion.   Many of the debtor airlines have closed shop while many others that are still in operations are precariously hanging. It remains to be seen how the agency recovers these debts from defunct airlines; thereby amounting to bad debts.   Spokesman for NCAA,…

*More workers to lose jobs *Chide NCAA over multiple charges, wants automation suspended The Nigerian aviation workforce hitherto put at over 5, 000 has shrunk to 3, 000, no thanks to the collapse of airlines and the economic recession that has put airlines in precarious situation. President, Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), a group comprising all airlines in the country, Capt. Noggie Meggison, said carriers have been forced to cut down on staff strength as…

Airbus in Hamburg has launched the extension of its Customer Definition Centre (CDC) which will serve customers for A320 and A330 aircraft. Thus far, since its operations began in 2014, the CDC has been the ‘product showroom’ exclusively for A350 XWB customers.    Following this extension launch, construction will soon begin in earnest to enlarge the existing CDC premises by redeveloping and equipping a large adjacent aircraft hangar into a state-of-the-art and cooperative working environment. …

Airbus and SITA have launched new Security Operations Center Services customized for the specific needs of the air transport industry. These new incident detection services will provide airlines, airports and other air transport industry stakeholders with information about unusual cyber activity that may impact their businesses.   All these services have been developed to specifically meet an ever increasing demand for cybersecurity in this industry becoming one of its top priorities.    Highlighting the importance…

The Federal Government has concluded plans to upgrade the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) by expanding its functions, which would be similar to that of America’s National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).  Consequently, AIB’s function would encompass investigation of rail, maritime and road accidents but would be domiciled in the aviation, New Telegraph has learnt. Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika, disclosed this on the side line of a forum put together by aviation think tank,…

Chief Executive Officers of the aviation agencies comprising Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB), Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) held a close door meeting with President, International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), Dr. Olumuyiwa Aliu who was briefly in Nigeria at the weekend. The talk centered around how the country could leverage on the position of the Nigerian as President…

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…