Q1 2019: For aviation, it’s positive start

 

Despite its slow start, Nigeria’s aviation, in the first quarter of 2019 shows that the sector is in for a roller coaster ride, as early signs signify good tidings for an industry that has huge potential to blossom. WOLE SHADARE writes

Slow start

The aviation industry in first quarter 2019 started rather slowly for obvious reasons. It was an election year. Activities shifted to the political turf where the election of any particular candidate could shape the fortune of the country.

While politiking heated, the ruling party – The All Progressives Congress (APC) had an eye in the aviation sector. For all it is worth, the air travel industry is a major indicator of a nation’s economy. Aviation mirrors the economy at large with improved passenger traffic, deepened capacity, efficient services and better infrastructure, as indices of prosperous outlook.

Stability

The sector witnessed improved stability in airlines’ operations; pockets of infrastructural face-lifts and recorded little growth. A closer look at events in the last three months suggests as much.

One of the good tidings of 2018 is the zero crash in commercial operations in Nigeria. The industry, therefore, has the enviable record of more than four-year operations without a major accident. That good record was carried into the first quarter of 2019.

This has been made possible through improved safety in civil aviation; improvement in navigational aids; development of global strategies for safety in air transportation; maintenance of standards and recommended practices; and monitoring of safety trends and indicators.

Safety programmes

The implementation of targeted safety programmes and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority’s (NCAA) sustained robust regulations as well as well-trained aviation safety inspectors and airlines’ adherence to standard operating procedures also contributed.

The whole aviation community is ultrasensitive to safety issues all over the world; agencies and personnel connected with safety are demonstrating an uncanny dexterity. Aviation is one of the most regulated industries in the world, and as a member of global aviation associations, the NCAA as well as the entire industry had been audited and would continue to be audited.

The role played by the regulatory agencies to deepen safety in aviation is significant. Of note are the efforts of the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) to further release the backlog of accident reports and the implementation of their safety recommendations for safety purposes.

 

Olateru blazing the trail

The AIB, under the current Chief Executive Officer, Akin Olateru, has released a total of 21 final reports in less than two years, that is, 52.5 per cent of AIB’s total of 40 final reports released since inception in 2007. The 73 safety recommendations issued since 2017, account for 47.4 per cent of the total 154 issued since inception.

Olateru is one of the few bright side of aviation since his appointment to oversee activities at once moribund AIB or better still, one that has been there for years without clear-cut description of its job.

The AIB had on February 13, 2019 released preliminary report involving Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo‘s AgustaWestland AW139 helicopter crash in Kabba, Kogi State, which occurred on February 2, 2019, with disclosure that Caverton Helicopters Limited did not conduct site survey of the landing field prior to this flight.

The helicopter experienced a hard landing on the right main landing gear and rolled over to the right after another helicopter with advanced party of the Vice-President raised huge dust after landing, which blurred the vision of the crew ferrying Osinbajo and his team.

The Captain immediately shut the engines, while the Co-Pilot shut off the fuel. The flight crew could remember executing the emergency landing procedures, which included switching off fuel, battery and generators.

But for the experience of the crew, which shut fuel off and switched off battery and generator, the airplane would have been engulfed in fire on landing. That would have been disastrous for the occupants of the ill-fated aircraft.

Weather was ruled out as the cause of the accident, which contradicted the position of the Managing Director of Caverton Helicopters, Capt. Josiah Choms, who disclosed same day of the accident that the crash was caused by ‘bad weather’.

Weather report obtained by Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), stated that the prevailing weather at the stadium was good (CAVOK).

Airlines retain stability

The harsh operating environment nonetheless, airlines continued on a roller-coaster ride, leveraging on partnerships to achieve some giant leaps. While many of the seven operating airlines really struggled to stay afloat, few enhanced dominance by improving capacity. Air Peace late last year signed over a billion dollar deal with Boeing towards acquiring 10 new 737 MAX aircraft in the near future.

The landmark pact by a Nigerian airline came at a time Air Peace received the third B777 aircraft in readiness last month for six new international routes and six Embraer 145 jets to ensure that “no city is left behind” in local and regional connectivity.

Flight delays, cancellations

Flight delay by domestic airlines went unabated and has continued to take the joy out of air travel.

Consequently, domestic airlines operating in Nigeria recorded 36,350 cases of delayed flights between January and December 2018. This was contained in statistics released by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).

Nigeria’s biggest airline, Air Peace ranks first as the airline with the highest 14, 069 flight delayed, 137 cancelled flights and operated 22, 055 flights.

The statistics from the apex aviation regulatory body shows that 59,818 flights were operated by nine airlines during the period under review.

According to the document, 544 flights were cancelled for various reasons by the airlines.

NCAA listed airlines in operation as Max Air, Dana Air, First Nation, Overland, Arik, Azman Aero Contractors, Air Peace and Medview.

Next in line was Arik Air, which followed with 8,073 delayed flights and 152 cancellations out of its scheduled 15,205 flight operations.

Dana Air on the other hand operated 5,944 flights with 3,915 cases of delayed flights and 67 cancellations.

Azman Air recorded 3,242 and 49 delayed and cancelled flights respectively, out of the 4,944 flights operated by the airline during the period under review.

Also, Aero Contractors operated 4,361 flights with 2,459 delayed and 70 cancellations; Overland, 601 flights with 1,960 delayed and 29 cancellations; and Medview, 2058 flights with 1,256 delayed and 42 cancellations.

National carrier’s hope rekindled

The Federal Government through the Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika penultimate week rekindled hope that the badly managed creation of national airline would be revisited. Reaction and bad press trailed the proposed national carrier government promised Nigerians.

The Minister said that the ministry only suspended the project to put adequate measures in place, promising that the project would be delivered soon.

He said the project, which was President Muhammadu Buhari’s brainchild would not be allowed to die.

He expressed concern that despite being a huge aviation market, Nigeria could not boast of a national carrier.

He said, “We have to suspend the earlier plans for the national carrier for strategic reasons. The move was not killed.

“Provisions have to be made to continue to fund activities of advisers and so on, to ensure that it is delivered.

“The carrier will be delivered within the life of this administration, this I can assure you.

“It is not forgotten by government. It will continue and we are doing everything we can to deliver it.”

The minister lamented that besides the huge revenue loss due to absence of a national carrier, Nigerians still pay exorbitantly to use air carriers belonging to other countries.

Last line

Not a few believe that despite the success achieved in first quarter of the year, the industry needs to do more to realise its huge potential.

 

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