FEATURES

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…

Airlines and travelers are beginning to see the repercussion of over $450 million in carriers’ monies trapped in the country. Emirates Airlines has cut down capacity on the Nigerian route, while other carriers are likely to follow the trend. Airfares have gone up as a result of the action to keep their funds; job losses loom just as travel agents also feel the brunt, writes WOLE SHADARE   Dire situation The situation is very dire…

At times of surging fuel prices, one response by airlines has been to impose fuel surcharges on top of the base fares for flights. The sudden increase in the price of jet fuel has triggered the planned re-introduction of fuel surcharges by a number of airlines, writes, WOLE SHADARE Sector in crisis When faced with higher-than-anticipated costs or the imposition of excessive tax and other charges by the government, most airlines have two choices. They can…

A widespread deficit of aircraft engineers across all continents has affected the sector in recent years with cases of aircraft engineers’ shortage. Recruiting mechanics has become noticeably more difficult, writes WOLE SHADARE Huge deficit The shortage of aviation mechanics is seriously taking a toll on the sector worldwide. The shortage of aircraft engineers for many operators of Maintenance Repair Overhaul (MRO) in Nigeria has led to a capacity and expansion deficit in many of the…

The economic consequences of not fixing the Lagos airport 18/L for over 16 years are huge to airlines and the entire aviation value chain, WOLE SHADARE writes Answered prayers For many years, precisely nearly 16 years, the second runway of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, operated without airfield lighting. For many years, airline operators struggled and mounted pressure on the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to provide light on the second runway popularly referred…

 Frequent air travelers within Africa agree that the cost of air tickets is too high. So serious is this issue that top African aviation stakeholders met penultimate week in Abuja to discuss factors responsible for the high cost of airfares and to come up with suggestions on how to address such factors, writes, WOLE SHADARE  Panic response At the just-concluded National Aviation Conference organized by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) held in Abuja penultimate…

Revenues are rising after the COVID-19 restriction was eased. People are returning to air travel. WOLE SHADARE writes that the challenge for airlines now is how to keep costs under control Nigerian airlines are most unlikely to return to profitability year. This is not peculiar to the nation’s carriers as many carriers in many parts of the world are witnessing serious hiccups. Only a few markets, like the United States and some parts of Asia…

The first-ever FAAN National Aviation Conference may have come and gone, but the lessons learnt from the summit should enrich the country’s aviation industry. WOLE SHADARE who was at the summit listened to divergent views of panelists on the Single Africa Air Transport Market (SAATM) and the fear of liberalizing air transport in Africa. These fears can be confronted if Africa truly wants to develop its air transport   A burgeoning region Africa is considered a…