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Few airlines are on the verge of joining existing ones to broaden space for competition. WOLE SHADARE writes that travelers will mostly take advantage of the glut for a better deal Bitter pill Nigerian airlines and by extension, the aviation industry in Nigeria suffered some grueling experiences that threatened the survival of the entire industry. The coronavirus pandemic like every other part of the world affected the country. Even before the outbreak, the outlook for the world…

Nigeria’s aviation industry in the past seven years has not done badly. The sector has been resilient enough to withstand shocks. Taking a holistic review of the industry, it can be said to have done relatively well despite many challenges that are yet to be resolved. Overall, it can be scored highly, writes WOLE SHADARE   Evolving aviation industry The aviation industry has come to represent a significant aspect of people’s lives in more evolving…

Nigeria has tried unsuccessfully to set up a national airline. At a point, it looked like another exercise in futility, but the Nigeria Air project is presently sounding realistic and sets to launch in the next few weeks, writes WOLE SHADARE Huge fillip The Nigeria Air project is gaining currency and the detailed progression of the exercise by the Federal Government through the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika to birth a new national carrier that…

Nigerians are said to be paying the highest travel fares in the world. The route is said to produce a high yield. Government is helpless, the country lacks strong indigenous carriers to compete with their counterparts with Nigerians at the mercy of foreign airlines’, writes WOLE SHADARE   Long in coming Many saw it coming. The airlines and their representative body, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) warned of an impending hike in international airfares….

The just-concluded Aviacargo summit where stakeholders in the aviation and insurance industries brainstormed on gamuts of issues is an opener as the summit kept stakeholders spellbound as to where aviation is headed, writes WOLE SHADARE Discourse One issue that dominated discourse at the Aviacargo summit tagged ‘CHINET 2022’ put together by travel expert and consultant, Ikechi Uko, was the role of insurance in aviation; the need for comprehensive insurance packages for Nigerian airlines, and the…

Nigeria’s airline industry is riddled with debts. The airlines are perpetually in debt. They owe banks and government several billion of Naira. They are funding slow expansion with short-term loans, putting banks and other firms in precarious situations, writes WOLE SHADARE   Unsuccessful venture It is becoming increasingly clear why virtually all Nigerian carriers are not successful. Seeking answers to this seems to be the easiest thing as many carriers in the country are highly…

Aviation security risks and threats evolve rapidly and manifest themselves in different forms. Recently, there has been a significant shift in the types of risks impacting civil aviation across the globe, prompting aviation experts to brainstorm on the application of multilayer security measures to nip the threats to aviation in the bud, writes WOLE SHADARE Security takes cenre-stage The issue of security has taken center stage in the contemporary international system. Continents, regions, and countries…

Airlines provide a vital service, but factors, including the existence of loss-making carriers, bloated cost structure, vulnerability to exogenous factors, and a reputation for poor service, combine to present impediments to profitability, writes WOLE SHADARE The sad reality The airline industry is no stranger to difficulties that have led them to bankruptcies and extinction. Many Nigerian carriers are technically bankrupt. Their indebtedness to various aviation agencies like the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), the…

Lagos-Johannesburg was one of the best routes for South African Airways (SAA) because of the high yield and the boom in business activities between Nigeria and South Africa. The crowding of the route by Air Peace and ASKY is potentially turning it into loss-making. Visa issues, jet fuel hikes, and forex hiccups have forced Air Peace to make a retreat. WOLE SHADARE examines what is playing out on the route Once a juicy route The Nigeria-South…

Not a few have shrugged off the idea of ‘low-cost airlines’, saying it made little business sense in the context of dwindling revenue of airlines in Nigeria and Africa at large, writes, WOLE SHADARE Tough clime Africa is an expensive place for airlines to do business. Having the right fleet strategy, access to finance, and a harmonised regulatory system are all crucial for air transport to develop. The potential that Africa possesses for air services is…