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 Wole Shadare Without attempting to sound hyperactive, three aircraft incidents in one week are enough to raise concern on air travel safety and attendant danger in Nigeria. Two weeks, precisely April 18, smoke reportedly engulfed Aero Contractors’ flight NG316 from Port Harcourt airport to Lagos, unexpectedly, causing panic among the passengers. The smoke engulfed the cabin some 20 minutes after take-off and continued until it touched down in Lagos. The Bombardier Q300 Dash 8 had…

Global Air Freight Demand Increases 14% in March The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released March 2017 demand growth results for global air freight markets showing a 14 per cent expansion measured in freight tonne kilometers (FTKs) compared to the same period last year.    Meanwhile, African carriers’ posted the largest year-on-year increase in demand of all regions in March 2017 with freight volumes growing 33.5 per cent. Capacity increased by 6.3 per cent over the…

Lack of capacity by Nigerian insurance firms to provide cover for airlines and alleged multiple taxation are threatening the operations of many carriers in the country. Chairman, Air Peace Airlines, Mr. Allen Onyema, raised this alarm in a chat in Lagos. Besides, he said that all the insurance firms in the country do not have the capacity it takes to insure a single airline, explaining that this formed the decision of operators to be insured outside…

Multiple routes designation to foreign airlines has been one of the headaches of domestic airlines. The truth is that Nigerian airlines are so small, fragmented and not ready for competition. WOLE SHADARE writes   It first started as a subtle protest, but later assumed a wider dimension as airlines, particularly Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) and a few others sympathetic to the precarious situation of Nigerian carriers, have pleaded with the Federal Government to review…

 The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has conducted a random alcohol and drug tests on licensed aviation personnel in the industry. However, out of the 87 personnel tested, only one crew member tested positive to psychoactive substance, Tetrahydro – Cannabinol (Marijuana) and was immediately suspended by the authority from carrying out further flight operations.   Further investigations were later carried out to ascertain the quantity of the substance in the urine sample of the crew…

Many refer to Captain Dele Ore as an encyclopaedia on aviation matters in Nigeria having being around the sector for 54 years. He rose through the ranks, first as a graduate from Britain Air University (AST), Perth Scotland, Oxford Air Training School, Mannin University, U.K. culminating in the attainment of a commercial pilot licence with instrument rating, multi-engine rating. This early training set up Ore, described as one of the best pilots Nigeria ever had…