Aviation

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has announced that Willie Walsh has officially taken on the role of Director General of the organization. He succeeds Alexandre de Juniac. “I am passionate about our industry and about the critical work that IATA does on behalf of its members, never more so than during the COVID-19 crisis. IATA has been at the forefront of efforts to restart global connectivity, including developing the IATA Travel Pass”. Less visible…

85% Emirates crew fully vaccinated as UAE administers 8 million shots   Emirates next month will operate a special flight with one of its brand new A380 aircraft to showcase the UAE’s vaccination programme and offer a glimpse at ‘the new normal’ for air travel while boosting confidence among the flying public. Flight EK2021 on April 10 will carry only fully vaccinated crew and passengers on-board. It will depart Dubai International Airport at 12:00hrs local…

Inclement weather on Monday forced aircraft to be diverted from Kano and Kaduna airports to the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja. Many prominent Nigerians who were billed to attend the 12th Bola Tinubu Colloquium could not travel by air. Many of them went by road for the much advertised event scheduled for Kano. The Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) however cited adverse weather condition as the reason aircraft could not operate to the city and…

  The lingering face-off between the representatives of Nigerian workers, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Turkish Airways assumed another dimension as the workers’ union has concluded plans to picket the airline over alleged violations of workers’ and trade union rights. Consequently, the NLC  has arrived at a decision of the NEC of Congress to picket the airline Tuesday March 30, 2021. The union in a schedule of the exercise stated that the action would…

The aviation industry’s response to the COVID-19 crisis has lacked vigour, according to a panellist speaking at the Arab Aviation Summit on Monday, who described industry efforts as “timid”. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) must step up its communications efforts, provide common guidelines and rally all industry stakeholders to boost confidence in the aviation sector, the panel concluded. Sunil John, communications expert and founder of ASDA’A BCW, said the aviation sector’s current challenges cannot…

To sanction defaulting carriers   Following the launch of the COVID-19 PCR test verification platform, the Presidential Task Force (PTF) has directed that only results from accredited private laboratories should be accepted from outbound passengers by airlines as from March 22, 2021. A circular from the Director-General of Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Capt. Musa Nuhu dated March 19, 2021, with reference: NCAA/DG/AIR/11/16/303 and titled, “Official Notification On Enforcement of Presidential Task Force (PTF) On…

Incident occurred during take-off-Airline A Lagos bound Aero Contractors flight returned to Kano after one of the engines of the aircraft was hit by bird during take-off in what is popularly known as bird strike. A bird strike—sometimes called birdstrike, bird ingestion (for an engine), bird hit, or bird aircraft strike hazard is a collision between an airborne animal (usually a bird or bats) and a moving vehicle, usually an aircraft. Bird strikes are a significant threat to flight safety, and have caused a…

Airport Business Summit on Cargo & Aero Logistics and Drone Technology Expo is expected to hold from the 10th to 13th May 2021 at the NIGAV Expo Centre at Murtala Muhammed International Airport. The combined event is aimed at closing cargo operational capacity gaps of Nigerian aviation industry, improve cargo revenue, link the chain of aero logistics to national agro export projects and open Nigeria to the emerging opportunities in Drone technology. Drone, Unmanned Aerial…

Managing Director of Arik Air, Capt. Roy Ilegbodu, said in Lagos at the weekend that the sharp drop in traffic occasioned by COVID-19 outbreak has drastically affected the fortunes of airlines. He also said exchange rate had gone up significantly by approximately 40 per cent since COVID struck. According to him, the sharp drop in passenger traffic is seriously affecting virtually all the airlines as a result of COVID- 19, stressing that many of the…