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Nigerians who missed Dubai, United Arab Emirates thought that issues that held them from travelling to Dubai had been sorted out when the UAE on Saturday lifted the air travel ban on Nigeria. For Nigeria, it sounded like a Pyrrhic victory until the Arab nation re-imposed the ban on the country till ‘further notice’, writes, WOLE SHADARE When two elephants fight…. There is a popular saying that when two elephants fight, the grass is the one that…

In-flight catering that was suspended in the wake of COVID-19 has returned. It brings to the fore the overstretching of airlines’ finances and, at the same time, trying to abide by regulatory directive, WOLE SHADARE writes Going back memory lane The first airline meals were served on a Handley-Page flight from London to Paris on October 11, 1919. They were pre-packed lunch boxes at three shillings each. United Airlines is the first airline to install kitchens…

The COVID-19 pandemic has devastated global aviation. The fallout is being severely felt across the African continent, writes WOLE SHADARE Negligible impact Even before the pandemic, only 9% of the continent’s air traffic was between African countries themselves. It’s common to hear stories that the fastest, easiest, and sometimes cheapest way to fly within the continent is via one of the big hubs in Europe or the Middle East. It’s no surprise that intra-regional African traffic…

While birds, mammals and airplanes may seem to peacefully share the space at and around airports, their co-existence is burdened with extreme risk. The birds have the potential to cause severe damage, leading in some cases to the loss of the aircraft, its crew and passengers, writes, WOLE SHADARE Searchlight On January 15, 2009, a US Airways aircraft took off from New York City’s LaGuardia Airport. Two minutes after take-off, the plane was struck by a…

For much of society, free Wi-Fi has evolved into something of a right, and the trend at airports is to treat it as an amenity no different from water fountains, trams and Muzak. Nigeria is still far or yet to embrace technology that could close the gap on the unfriendliness of her airports, writes WOLE SHADARE Competitive advantage The commercialisation and privatisation of airports in combination with the deregulation of the aviation market have introduced…

Airline sector in Africa continues to struggle, with most of them in the red, even as startups and most existing airlines will struggle to overcome the obstacles that have repeatedly prevented most airlines on the continent from succeeding. WOLE SHADARE writes Wrong step Many years ago, African airlines dominated the skies of Africa. Gross mismanagement and corruption saw to the end of promising airlines like Nigeria Airways, Ghana Airways, Air Afrique and others that connected…

The Federal Government disclosed how far it has gone with its proposed national airline. How long more can Nigerians wait? How desirable is a national airline to Nigeria? Could it just be for national pride sake or pure business venture? Time shall tell exactly when the much awaited airline is going to birth. Could it be a stillborn or one that will actually be born? , writes, WOLE SHADARE So long, too long The project is…

Airline owners and stakeholders have realised that interlining/ code sharing could be profitable as airlines, in most parts of the world, are seeing cooperation as the way to go in order to remain relevant in the highly dynamic aviation industry. They have identified what consumers want and the challenges consumers face, which form the imperative for interlining and codeshare, writes WOLE SHADARE Nigerian airlines no longer beautiful brides It was not as if the disclosure…

Experts are of the opinion that African ‘Open Skies’ could be the solution to many issues confronting airlines in the region. At the core of this is a lack of suitable gradual implementation framework to harmonise differences between airlines and provide a level playing field for the future, writes WOLE SHADARE Overview Although it is still going at snail speed, not a few believe that the full implementation of the Single African Air Transport Market…