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Nigeria loses $3 billion annually to foreign carriers’-Operators
- Airline body seeks support for Air Peace on Dubai route
Airlines under the aegis of Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) have urged the Federal Government to engage in international aeropolitics as well as assisting the country’s flag carriers excel on the highly competitive foreign routes, especially, the Dubai route.
The airline body decried a situation where foreign airlines dominate and edge out Nigerian operators, thereby leading to about $3bn capital flight annually.
The Dubai route has been problematic for as many Nigerian airlines that have ventured into the route. Virgin Nigeria, Arik and Medview did not survive up to six months before they ceased operations on the lucrative route.
Penultimate week, Nigeria’s flag carrier airline, Air Peace had its inaugural flight to Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and many have expressed reservation about the venture, basically because of the fate that befell others before it.
Consequently, President, AON, Capt. Noggie Meggison who spoke in Lagos, urged the Nigerian government to ensure that airline survives; stressing that many of the airlines that went before them collapsed due mainly to 85 per cent role of aeropolitics which government is expected to play.
The AON President noted that the government’s nonchalant attitude in playing international aviation politics had been the bane of operators like Bellview that was frustrated out of the India market.
Aside Medview, he said Arik Air was given a distant parking bay in Dubai at the far end of the terminal while Medview was frustrated out of the London route by alleged regulatory technicalities and so called safety deficiencies, unfair slot allocation, exorbitant airport charges, levies and fees.
All these, he reiterated conspired to discredit the airline as a means of edging them out of the route in order to get rid of the competition the carrier posed to their own local operators.
His words, ‘Air Peace is Nigeria’s private airlines fourth attempt into the international market and it would be recalled that many of the airlines that went before them collapsed due mainly to aeropolitics which is 85 per cent the role of government to play. As we know foreign carriers dominate 100 per cent of the Nigerian sky with capital flight of about $3bn”.
The AON chief pleaded with the Federal Government to put its full weight behind Air Peace and give the carrier all the support it requires to succeed on the route in the face of stiff competition and aero politics which the carrier will face in the near future.
“Air Peace has taken a bold step and they should be encouraged by Nigerians. The airline’s maiden flight to Dubai means more jobs for our Nigerian youths; it means jobs for over 600 unemployed Nigerian pilots; it means hope for our various Aviation Training Academies at NCAT, Zaria, International Aviation College, Ilorin and the International Helicopter Flying School, Enugu’.
The designation of Air Peace to Dubai according to Meggison means more travel choices for Nigerian travellers at affordable rates, hinting that it means more contribution to the Nigerian economy and the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
“It means increased growth for the Nigerian aviation sector; it means the transfer of technology and technical expertise; and it also means a reduction in capital flight from the country by foreign airlines”.
The operators lauded President Muhammadu Buhari and the Federal Ministry of Transport (Aviation) for moving the Nigerian aviation sector to the next level by assisting Air Peace to start international flights into Dubai on July 5, 2019.
While thanking the Federal Government for its role in making this feat possible, Meggison said it was instructive to note that next level requires strong government support as Air Peace has become one of the pillars to the building of our nation’s economy.
He further pleaded that the Federal Government should not abandon Air Peace but to stand tall with Nigerian airlines and bring the full weight of its political machinery and influence behind Air Peace and effectively protect the airline from all forms of aero-politics and regulatory biases that may arise during the course of the airline’s operations into various international destinations.
In a related development, he called on the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to urgently provide Air Peace with a prominent space for its Private Lounge on the air side at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) designed in Air Peace colours to show that the airline represents Nigeria as a flag carrier airline like what is obtainable in Frankfurt with Lufthansa; Heathrow with British Airways; and Dubai with Emirates.
“This is a private Nigerian airline that has invested private funds with four (4) B777 and is flying the Nigerian flag beyond the shores of our beloved nation. And it should be put on record that no private Entrepreneur in any African country has ever attempted scheduled commercial international flights apart from Nigerian Private Entrepreneurs. We must all therefore put all hands on deck and work together to make this effort by Air Peace succeed and become a legacy for others to build on”, he addede.
