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*Succeeds Fekih who retires after 30 years   Airbus has appointed Mikail Houari, as President for Africa and the Middle East region.   Houari, 50, who previously served as Deputy President for Africa and the Middle East, brings to the position more than 25 years of experience within the industry at a global level. In his new role, he will lead the team to drive operations and future business across the region.   Houari began…

The Kaduna airport which is undergoing total rehabilitation is safe and ready for operations, Chairman, Coordinating Committee on Abuja relocation, Capt. Mohammed Joji and Director, Safety Electronics and Engineering Services (DSEES) of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, Alhaji Farouk Ahmed Umar have said. The duo said the airport has been re-branded with modern equipment in line with international standard. Umar told Woleshadare.net that brand new Instrument Landing Systems (ILSs) and other safety related equipment have been installed for safe flight…

  ·         Europe to provide propulsion, life support to astronauts ·         First crewed mission planned for 2021  Airbus Defence and Space, the world’s second largest space company, has signed a new contract with the European Space Agency (ESA) for the construction of the second European Service Module (ESM) for NASA’s Orion spacecraft. The contract is worth around 200 million euros.   The ESM is a key element of Orion, the next-generation spacecraft that will take astronauts…

  *Re-aligns operations     Arik Air has suspended flight operations to London and Johannesburg, two prime international routes.   The airline said in a statement made available to Woleshadare.net said the idea was to enable them find permanent solution facing their passengers as it would enable us to carry out a thorough assessment of the situation.   It said the strategic business decision was meant to realign their operations and refocus on satisfying their…

Odengene Air-Shuttle Services Limited (OAS) has been taken over by Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON). The development is coming barely five days after it intervened in Arik Air that is bedeviled by debts. A source, who said AMCON officials pasting their seal of takeover, said the takeover followed a court order. AMCON seal reads, “POSSESSION TAKEN TODAY 14/2/17 BY AMCON BY COURT ORDER ON SUIT NO. FHC/4CS/1139/2016.” It is still very unclear why the company was taken…

  *IOM, NEMA offer £50 to each returnee *Synagogue Church offers assistance It was a mixed feeling for 161 Nigerians that were voluntarily brought back from Tripoli, Libya. For most of them, the timely intervention of International Organisation of Migration (IOM) saved them from death as they relived their experiences. For some of them, they would go back to the country; describing it as one that offered them ‘good’ life before everything went wrong.  …

 The rescue of Arik Air by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) led to panic in the aviation even though many saw it coming. It further raises anxiety as to whether the airline would join others which lifespan were less than ten years, writes, WOLE SHADARE   Call it a specular fall and you won’t be wrong. Nigeria’s biggest airline came with a lot of promise when it was floated on October 30, 2006. Not…

*To submit report in 12 weeks   Wole Shadare   The new management of Arik Airlines has appointed KPMG, world-class financial experts to undertake a forensic and diagnostic audit of the finances of the airline to ascertain the true status of its finances.    According to the statement, the review will among other objectives cover the position of assets and liabilities, and their utilization; recording and utilization of loans, propriety of third party transactions; fraud…

*Legal firework to slow down process     There are indications that the Federal Government may have decided to convert troubled Arik Air into the much anticipated national airline that the government plans to float by the end of this year.   A very reliable source who worked in the Presidency but declined to give his identity because he was not authorized to speak with the media said the coast is getting clearer regarding the…

The low export business in Nigeria has led to the exorbitant charges by cargo airlines operating to Nigeria, the Managing Director of Skyway Aviation Handling Company Limited (SAHCOL), Rizwan Kadri has said.   Consequently, the airlines charge double goods coming into the country because they hardly have goods to take out of the country. This has seriously affected cost of transporting goods t[ the country by air. Investigations also revealed that charges accruable to the…