Flight delays, others worry NCAA, summon airlines
- VIP mov’t, infrastructure cause of hitch-Carriers
- Agency lauds five airlines on TSC/CSC
The meeting which was held under close door at the NCAA headquarters at the weekend also discussed the slow decision of airlines to key into Aviation Revenue Automation Project (ARAP)/Direct Debit mandate to which the carriers were given additional 90 days to perfect.
At the meeting attended by 33 schedule and non-schedule commercial airlines, the chief executives of these airlines took turns to enumerate some grey areas affecting their operational efficiency.
One of the chief executives of an airline that attended the meeting with the Director-General of NCAA, Capt. Usman Muhtar and who pleaded anonymity told Woleshadarenews that the DG was worried about incessant delays and flight cancellations, admitting that the figure is skyrocketing to an alarming rate.
The source stated that the airlines attributed many of the delays to VIP movements, lack of screening facilities at many of the aerodromes, stressing that a ten minute delay would have a significant effect on their route network and schedules.
Experts are worried that the increasing rate of both delayed and cancelled flights are creating unease in the sector as passengers continue to inundate the NCAA with complaints.
Penultimate week, stakeholders were stunned with the figure released by the aviation regulatory body.
Fact sheet from NCAA shows that in 2017, an average of three out of every four flights were delayed.
Out of 48,319 flights operated by eight airlines, 30,214 were late, while 872 were cancelled. The breakdown indicated that Aero Contractors recorded 66.5 per cent delay rate; Arik Air, 61.8 per cent; Azman Air, 66.4 per cent; Dana Air 64.2 per cent; Med-View Airlines Plc 71 per cent; Overland 70.1 per cent; First Nation 35.8 per cent; and Air Peace 58.2 per cent.
In 2018, the aviation regulator reported that 36,350 domestic flights were delays. A breakdown of 2018 figure ranked Air Peace as first, having recorded 14, 069 flights delayed; 137 cancelled flights while it operated 22, 055 flights.
Statistics from the apex aviation regulatory body showed that 59,818 flights were operated by nine airlines in the period under review.
This staggering statistics has forced many to take the option of travelling by road despite the danger of kidnapping and bad road network across the country as many scheduled flights no longer depart as scheduled.
The operators expressed the hope that the regulatory body would intervene in the aforementioned areas of concern. It was unanimously agreed that this consultative meeting should occur much more frequently.
In a related development, the NCAA commended Aero Contractors, Overland Airways, Air Peace Airline, Medview Airline and Allied Air Limited domestic airlines for their consistency in the remittance of five per cent Ticket Sales Charges/Cargo Sales Charges (TSC/CSC).
This payment is in compliance with the Nigeria Civil Aviation Act 2006 (As amended).
Other key considerations for recognition by the authority are timely remittance of Cargo Sales Charges (CSC); beneficial working relationship, especially the Aviation Revenue Automation Project (ARAP)/ Direct Debit Mandate; and contribution to effective, efficient, safe and secure operations.
While appreciating the operators for their efforts despite daunting challenges in the business environment, Capt. Usman expressed optimism that the operators will continue to honour their financial obligations and carry out seamless airline operations.
Similarly, he congratulated Allied Air Limited on her success in the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) on the airline’s operation recently.
The airlines were presented their commendation letters during a consultative meeting between the NCAA and the airlines under the aegis of Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON).
However, the AON members decided to form a committee that will interface with relevant officials of NCAA to ameliorate some contentious area of the automation within the 90 days.
After four hours of deliberations, the DG promised to look into all other issues raised and strive to provide necessary assistance within the confines of extant laws for the development of the industry and all operating airlines.
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