OPINION: Evaluating aviation’s modest successes
By Abdullahi Aminu
In a 2016 interview, the Managing Director of the Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON), Mr. Ahmed Kuru, captured what the fate of air travellers in the country would be were Arik and Aero Contractors allowed to go under, when he said: “We cannot afford for the two airlines to go under, the effect will be devastating for our aviation industry.”
Arguably, the two leading airlines in the country were almost caving in under huge debt burden they owed financial institutions in the country hence AMCON took them over. The takeover has kept the two airlines in the sky and transporting air passengers across the country. Their sustained operations however averted a crisis of multiple dimensions in the nation’s aviation industry.
That intervention signposts one of the achievements of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration in the aviation sector, according to assertions by multiple industry insiders.
Other achievements of the administration abound in this sector. One of such was the upgrade of the runway of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja (NAIA). Before the repair works, many leading international airlines threatened to boycott the route even as it was deemed a lucrative route. Their threats fetched the country widespread criticisms especially, within the global civil aviation community.
Many of the affected airlines lamented avoidable economic loss. They complained that the runway had severally damaged landing gears of their aircraft. International airlines, among them British Airways and Emirates Airline threatened to boycott the route, they did not. However, they stopped deploying bigger and newer modern aircraft on the route and this reduced number of air traffic on the route, which came with revenue loss for the nation.
The repair works also impacted the Kaduna Airport. As the alternate destination for airlines originally meant for the Abuja airport, the Federal Government seized the opportunity to refurbish and upgrade the facilities at the airport to international standard even though it is of international cargo flights. Air travellers in and out of Kaduna State had continued to benefit from the upgrade long after the repair works in the Abuja airport was completed.
The current government’s commitment to developing the nation’s aviation industry is underscored by the huge premium it places on air safety. Industry stakeholders noted that safety is paramount in the sector even as they maintained that safety is synonymous to the provision of all necessary navigational equipment at airports.
In pursuit of air safety, the federal government under President Buhari has invested heavily in the sector even in the midst of paucity of funds. The current administration’s commitment to air safety in the country has manifested in a handful of initiatives that the current administration has launched, funded and backed with uncommon political will to see it to completion for the benefit of Nigerians.
Besides, the current administration, has also demonstrated a commendable dedication to putting in place necessary infrastructure and policies needed to catalyse the aviation sector; and appoint people of proven professional competence and capacity to drive its policies.
The Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) provides a concrete proof of the foregoing. Before now, air accidents are investigated at snail speed and when results are ready they are not released to the public leading to a recurrence of avoidable air mishap in the nation’s airspace.
Many accidents, which stakeholders in the industry opined were not as complicated as to warrant several years of investigation before the causes are unravelled had lied fallow with the bureau. That narrative has changed at the bureau with the appointment of a new management by the current administration.
Last October, the AIB released final reports of the Bristow Helicopters Sikorsky S-76c+ with registration number 5N-BGD, which crashed in August 2015, in the Oworonshoki area of Lagos. Three other reports of serious air accidents were also released. They included that of the Pan African Airlines Nigeria Limited Bell 412 EP Helicopter with registration number 5N-BDZ, which crashed near the SEDCO Energy platform in July 2004; Emirates Boeing 777-200 aircraft with the registration number 5N-BOB, which occurred in July 2015.
The current administration’s intervention in the sector transcends the shores of the country. For the first time in recent time, the country hosted two high profile ICAO event that traditionally takes place in Canada.
Stakeholders opined that Nigeria’s hosting of the World Aviation Forum, which has never held outside of ICAO head office in Montreal, Canada, underscores the country’s rising profile within the global aviation industry.
Coming soon after the country hosted the ICAO Symposium on Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) was a clear indication of the confidence that the global aviation industry was beginning to repose in the country’s aviation sector, and this is traceable to the commitment of the current administration to reposition the industry both locally and internationally.
Interestingly, government’s efforts have not gone unnoticed. For the first time again, the country’s two leading airports were certified by ICAO. Nigeria has sought the certification for over 30 years but failed to get it, because previous governments failed to put in place needed facility thus, fell short of the criteria for awarding the certification.
International airport certification is no mean feat though. Nigerians in the aviation sector know this thus their hailing of the current administration, when the nation’s two leading international airports were certified by the International Civil Aviation Organisation in 2017.
The certification is very important for Nigeria, because the International Federation of Airline Pilots’ Association reviews airports on a continuous basis, evaluates their safety standards. In accordance with ICAO regulations, and disseminates such information to their members all over the world. It is their evaluation that determines whether commercial airlines would agree to fly to certain airports or not.
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