Mixed fortune for aviation in 2019
2019 was a memorable year for aviation in Nigeria, with a mixture of positive and negative aviation developments, Wole Shadare writes
From failures to triumphs, 2019 has been a year of turbulence in the aviation industry. Last year, Nigeria’s aviation sector played host to the good, the bad and the ugly. But what’s in store for 2020, and what can we expect from not only the airlines but the entire sector?
Declining profitability
Aviation had been in something of a ‘golden age’, with plenty of profits, plenty of demand and enough business for everyone. However, such is the nature of the boom and bust cyclicality of air travel, 2019 was a little bit tougher on carriers and the industry generally.
Rising labour costs, interest laden debts, increasing competition… none of this is going away in 2020. However, with planning and preparation, carriers should be able to build in enough resilience to absorb the impact of most of these issues.
Last year was something of a record breaker in terms of the number of airlines hanging precariously and a few would go bust as well as those struggling financially in the New Year except there is an urgent change in their business model.
Largely this has been down to instability in overhead costs, with fuel prices, labour costs and competitive pricing putting the squeeze on even the biggest players.
Nigerian carriers are faced with so many challenges that have led to their extinction. Those that are operating are doing so under excruciating business climate.
The present administration seems determined to build a new legacy in Nigeria air transportation development hoping to inject healthy airlines into the system and sustain the existing ones.
Waning hope for national carrier
Five years has gone past and the country is yet to be bequeathed with one of the promises of Mr. President Muhammadu Buhari.
It is heartbreaking that one of the few countries that started the race with Nigeria has progressed better than Nigeria and has actually set up its own national airlines because of the huge gaps domestic airlines have not been able to fill.
Amid slow pace of action on setting up national carrier for Nigeria, some stakeholders even suggested that Arik and Aero Contractors, two airlines that technically belong to the Federal Government, be merged to make it easier if government is in a conundrum on what to do after boxing itself into a corner.
The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria’s (AMCON) Chief Executive Officer, Ahmed Kuru, recently proposed the adoption of Arik Air as the new national carrier. Kuru said the airline had sufficient asset to kick-start a new national carrier, instead of a fresh start being mid-wife by the Minister of Aviation.
Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika explained that any airline that would operate at that level must be such that would support the national economy, with $450 million GDP for 200million people, and must be very equipped to compete favourably.
He said, “The international airlines that have dominated Africa, 80% of those airlines are non-African. In view of the AU Agenda 2063, the Single African Aviation Market, we thought that there will be an airline that will take up that challenge; that will take advantage of it and be able to provide services to our people.
The planned concession of four international airports by the Federal Government has not materialised more than four years into the life of the current administration.
Airports concession yet to take off
Sirika, in his aviation development master plan unveiled in 2016, unfolded the intention of government to concession the airports. The airports slated for concession are the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos; Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja; Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA) and Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa Rivers State. In April 2016 when Sirika held a stakeholders’ forum in Lagos, the second to be held after the first one in Abuja on assumption of office as minister, he listed several other projects to boost aviation development.
But four years after, little or nothing has been achieved in actualizing the concession programme even as stakeholders expressed concern over what they called the dark clouds surrounding the concession. However, it was not clear when the concession would come into reality prompting apprehension among industry players on whether or not the concession programme is still on course.
The delay in the concession has raised insinuation of whether government has succumbed to pressure by aviation unions, majority of which had rejected the planned concession and vowed to resist it.
New Face of FAAN Airports
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) is raising the bar in airport administration in the country. Although, the country is still not where it should be in terms of airports infrastructure, it is however, retooling to meet the changing dynamics of aviation needs around the aerodromes.
With massive infrastructural development in Abuja, the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport. The new Murtala Muhammed Airport terminal is expected to be completed early next year to decongest traffic at the one in use that has outlived its usefulness.
Brand new Enugu airport beckons
The Enugu Airport is also expected to be completed by March 2020. Huge sum of money had been sunk into total rehabilitation. The Federal Government approved the sum of N10 billion for the rehabilitation of the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu.
NAMA boost airspace with safety tools
The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) has lived up to the billing of provision of airspace infrastructure. At no time had the Federal Government taken safety seriously in aviation thatn now with acquisition of VHF radios to tackle blind spots in the airspace coupled with the acquisition of Cat 3 ILS for Lagos, Abuja and few other aerodromes.
Accident Investigation Bureau stands out
The AIB is one of the stand-out agencies in the sector with many of the reforms put together by Commissioner AIB, Akin Olateru, an aircraft engineer in less than two years he assumed leadership of the organisation. The speedy release of accident reports that had gathered dust on the shelf and other measures led to the commendation by the highly revered United States National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) for its rich accident investigation programmes, which are expected to enhance air safety in the country.
NCAT’s tremendous success
Under the supervision of Rector of the school, Capt.Abdulsalam Mohammed, the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology ( NCAT) has earned the ICAO enviable recognition as a Regional Training Centre of Excellence. The College has for three years consecutively earned the ICAO TrainAir plus award as the aviation training centre with the most offered courses and most trained Instructors in the world. Just recently, the institution got approval, equipment an licenced Instructors to commence the long eluded aviation Fire fighter Course in NCAT. With the limited Resources at his disposal, he has prioritized expenditure to ensure all his Instructional Staff are at all times current in their mandatory licences.
NCAA steps up air safety
Safety in air transportation is largely dependent on effective regulation, surveillance, training and manpower development. As a regulatory authority, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) besides ensuring safety and security of air transport in Nigeria, liaises with other countries and international aviation organisations on behalf of Nigeria; so these organisations review its activities from time to time to determine the safety standard of the country’s aviation industry. The agency recently showed its enormous power to regulate the sector when it threaten to stop Turkish Airlines from operating to Nigeria over maltreatment of Nigerian passengers whose luggage are left in Istanbul. In less than 24 hours, the Istanbul based carrier buckled bhy deploying a bigger airplane to ferry passengers’ luggage back to the country. Kudos to the Acting DG, Capt. Abdullahi Sidi.
Scandal of the year
The indictment of the Chairman of Air Peace, Mr. Allen Onyema by the United State over alleged money laundering and fraud shocked not a few around the world. Onyema single handedly nurtured Air Peace to a recognisable brand with placing of order for brand new aircraft but the allegations against him eroded his philantrophy and other humanitarian gesture. He was charged with bank fraud and money laundering for moving more than $20 million from Nigeria through United States bank accounts in a scheme involving false documents based on the purchase of airplanes. The international airline’s Chief of Administration and Finance, Ejiroghene Eghagha, was also charged with bank fraud and committing aggravated identity theft in connection with the scheme. The duo had denied the allegations against them, promising to prove their innocence in the United States any time the matter comes up for trial.
Last line
No doubt, 2019 can be said to be a relatively successful year for aviation in Nigeria – a year where bold steps and attempt were made in the reshaping the industry. However. Much work needs to be done to take the sector to its rightful position in Africa.
