FEATURES

  ACFTA and the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) still have a long way to go for effective implementation. WOLE SHADARE writes that the AU needs some institutional reforms to ensure that this plausible paper initiative becomes a reality Colonial demarcation Africa is home to half of the 32 landlocked developing countries that face special challenges associated with their lack of direct territorial access to the sea resulting in high transport and transit costs. The African…

Africa is a region on the cusp of rapid economic expansion. Before Africa’s aviation market can grow to its full potential, however, airlines must address the weak points in their intra-regional operating models, writes WOLE SHADARE Dust settles The dust is still settling across the aviation landscape 19 months after the disappearance of passenger traffic and the retrenchment of airlines. Ultra-large capacity jets are in storage, some likely never to fly again. Networks and frequencies…

Right from the beginning, it seemed NG Eagle flew into stormy waters and could be frustrated from getting an AOC. All eyes are on NCAA as its independence and integrity are at stake. Could the ‘airline’ be running into turbulence even before it starts? WOLE SHADARE evaluates the situation Setting the stage The stage was set for the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) to float NG Eagle. Some said the assets manager planned to…

Nigeria is at the edge of other missteps with so many calls, pronouncements from politicians. WOLE SHADARE writes that despite all the odds, the NCAA is stronger and more effective in its regulatory functions Global aviation bodies lend voices  Sometimes in June 2021, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) called on the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) to maintain the critical separation between politics and aviation safety issues. Even the global aviation regulatory body, the International Civil Aviation Organisation…

Over time, there had been talks of African aviation market growing with great potentials but lacking in harnessing the great potentials the continent’s aviation possesses, writes WOLE SHADARE Promise and opportunities Yes, the African aviation market has always been promising and filled with opportunities, yet operating in this environment is challenging. It is a fast-growing market in which air connectivity went up by 30% from 2014 to 2019. Africa has a large, young workforce that can…

With MMA2 serving as the first airport concession experiment in Nigeria, authorities are again looking to attract public-private partnership for Nigeria’s four major airports, as the government struggles to fund capital projects and restrain public debts. WOLE SHADARE writes that the government should look inward to apply a model that has been adjudged to work   Fast pace The airport concession by the Federal Government is said to be moving fast towards actualization amid calls by some…

When the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) was launched in January 2018, it was enthusiastically embraced as the key that would unlock air travel growth in the continent. WOLE SHADARE writes that more than two years after the launch, interconnectivity within the African continent has been problematic as it was even before SAATM Long way to go Although 33 countries in the continent are signatories to the project, the agreement appears to be on paper rather than being…

In Nigeria, the needed executive capacity to implement aviation roadmap programmes is lacking on an international scale. WOLE SHADARE highlights the impediments to this policy adopted by successive governments. Sing songs? The ‘mantra’, aviation road-map seems to have been the sing-song for any new administration saddled with the responsibility of leaving the sector when they met it. The airports’ infrastructural report of Nigeria unlike South Africa, Ethiopia, Egypt, Rwanda and Kenya is nothing to write home about as…

Within the aviation industry, employees’ eyes glitter when electric aviation is mentioned. It’s a  topic that is hot and heavily debated and, what only a few years ago felt unlikely, is now becoming a reality, writes WOLE SHADARE Experiment So it looks as though electric air taxis and small planes could arrive in the near future, subject to regulatory approval. In December 2019, the first commercial trip using electric aircraft flew in Vancouver and the…

Green Africa is Nigeria’s newest airline having started flights last week. Nigerians are ready to travel again following COVID-19 pandemic. More airlines are offering services. Competition will become tougher as more people plan to join. What unique services would they be offering?  WOLE SHADARE raises some posers Great expectation Is it going to be the same or a purpose driven competition to benefit Nigerians? Time shall tell. Nigerians are ready to travel again for leisure and…