Travel News

By Wole Oyebade

Airlines in Nigeria and other African countries have recorded 73.7 per cent slump in passenger traffic for the month of March 2021. The downturn, though a global trend, is not unconnected with travel restrictions and quarantine in many countries.   The International Air Transport Association (IATA), in the March passenger traffic survey released yesterday, showed that African airlines’ traffic sank by 73.7 per cent in March versus March two years ago, marking a deterioration compared to a 72.3 per cent decline recorded in February compared to February 2019.   Globally, total demand for air travel was down 67.2 per cent compared to March 2019. That was an improvement over the 74.9 per cent decline recorded in February 2021 versus February 2019. The better performance was driven by gains in domestic markets, particularly China.  

International passenger demand in March was 87.8 per cent below March 2019, a very small improvement from the 89.0 per cent decline recorded in February 2021 versus two years ago.
 
Total domestic demand was down 32.3 per cent versus pre-crisis levels (March 2019), greatly improved over February 2021, when domestic traffic was down 51.2 per cent versus the 2019 period. All markets except Brazil and India showed improvement compared to February 2021, with China being the key contributor, as already noted.
 
IATA’s Director General, Willie Walsh, said the positive momentum in some key domestic markets in March was an indication of the strong recovery anticipated in international markets as travel restrictions are lifted.
 
“People want and need to fly. And we can be optimistic that they will do so when restrictions are removed,” Walsh said. Asia-Pacific airlines’ March international traffic was down 94.8 per cent compared to March 2019, barely better than the 95.4 per cent decline registered in February 2021 versus February 2019. The region continued to suffer from the steepest traffic declines for a ninth consecutive month. Capacity was down 87.0 per cent and the load factor sank 48.6 percentage points to 31.9 per cent, the lowest among regions.

European carriers recorded an 88.3 per cent decline in traffic in March versus March 2019, just slightly ahead of the 89.1 per cent decline in February compared to the same month in 2019. Capacity fell 80.0 per cent and load factor fell by 35.0 percentage points to 49.4 per cent.   Walsh observed that the emergence of new COVID-19 variants and rising cases in some countries were behind governments’ reluctance to lift travel restrictions and quarantine.

“However, we are beginning to see positive developments, such as the recent announcement by European Commission President von der Leyen that vaccinated travellers from the U.S. will be allowed to enter the EU. At least 24 countries have already said they will welcome vaccinated travellers.   “We expect this to continue and gather momentum as vaccination numbers rise. However, governments should not rely only on vaccinations, as it risks discriminating against those individuals who are unable to get a vaccine for medical or other reasons, or who lack access to vaccines—a common situation in much of the world today. Affordable, timely and effective testing must be available as an alternative to vaccines in facilitating travel,” said Walsh.   He added that for as long as these health measures are required, governments need to accept digital COVID-19 test and vaccination certificates and to follow global standards for issuing their own vaccination certificates and test results.   “We are already seeing intolerable waits at some airports, as airlines, passengers and border control authorities are having to rely on paper processes at a time when airports are no longer designed to accommodate them. The IATA Travel Pass addresses this challenge by enabling travelers to control and share their digital vaccination certificate or test results with airlines and border authorities, easing facilitation and reducing the risk of fraudulent documents,” Walsh said.

A dozen children crowd around plastic tables in the Majidun neighborhood of Lagos. Intently focused on plastic mats printed with chess boards, the children thoughtfully move pieces on the board as supervisors observe their moves.

The waterside shanty town is just across the lagoon from the mansions and towering office blocks of Nigeria’s commercial capital. They hope the cunning and strategy they learn on the chess board will help them make the leap out of their homes in the slum.

“To live here is hard,” said Michael Omoyele, who at 14 has already dealt with food scarcity and worked to feed himself. Inspired by “Queen of Katwe”, the 2016 film about a girl who escapes poverty in a Kenyan slum through chess, Omoyele hopes chess will help him, too.

“On the chessboard you work hard in order to win and from winning chess games I believe I can do better in becoming a champion and being wealthy also.”

Omoyele practices at home, in a room with watermarked concrete walls and peeling blue paint and the din of crying children in the background.

“This is why we are teaching them chess, as a way to raise a new generation of intellectuals, people … who will be curious enough to question everything, who will be curious enough to innovate,” he said.

The United Nigeria Airlines has said effective from today, it will increase flight frequency from the Murtala Mohammed Airport (MM2) in Ikeja, Lagos into the Nnamdi Azikiwe InternationalAirport Abuja and vice versa.

The airline, with the development, will additionally fly Lagos-Abuja at 16:00hrs every day. United Nigeria Airlines will also, additionally, fly Abuja-Lagos every day at 17:30hrs. The new schedule adds to United Nigeria Airlines regular schedule on the Lagos-Abuja-Lagos route which emanates from MM2 at 13:00hrs and from Abuja at 14:30hrs.

Last week the Anambra State International Airport, Umueri marked its first test flights, thus indicating the readiness of the facility to host scheduled and cargo flights. Chinedu Eze, who attended the ceremony, writes about the expected and benefits of the infrastructure to people of the state.

Anambra state government surprised many Nigerians on April 30, 2021, when its new airport received three flights to mark its inauguration. The surprise came from the fact that not many knew that the airport was being built and also not many knew that it had reached the level of completion to host flights.

This explained the excitement and frenzy when the first aircraft, a Boeing 737 operated by Nigeria’s major carrier, Air Peace, landed at the airport, the home of the people who arguably are the most travelled in Nigeria.

The people could not contain their happiness that the expanse of land that hitherto was a farmland had been transformed to an airport, where a flight could take off from anywhere in the world and land after it has been certified. The second flight that landed was Embraer 145, also operated by Air Peace and the third flight was a private jet.

The celebration was reminiscent of what happened in September 2009, when the Akwa Ibom International Airport was opened for flights. Then, the tumultuous crowd who were so elated became human traffic gridlock, as they trekked from Uyo to Okobo community to witness the first aircraft that landed at the airport.

It was also a similar scenario at Gombe when the Sani Abacha International Airport was inaugurated in 2008. The throngs of people from the state celebrated and hailed the then governor of the state for his foresight to build the airport.

Approval

For the people of Anambra state, the state government has unlocked an opportunity for job creation, for easy movement of goods and for connecting to the rest of the world from the state. Attention of Nigerians was drawn to the airport when the Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Captain Musa Nuhu commended the facility after detailed inspection. He described it as one of the best in the country and said he was amazed at the elaborate, carefully planned and masterfully executed facilities at the new airport.

“I am amazed, almost speechless at the level of work, and the level of compliance with our regulatory requirements and also with international standards and recommended practices. “We have gone round the airport. We have a runway of 3.7kilometers with a runway safety area on both ends of the airport of about 1000 meters. There’s no airport in Nigeria that has a racer area of 1000 meters at both ends of the runway.

“With two taxiways. We have gone to the tower; the control tower is amazing, certainly if not one of the best control towers in Nigeria today. We have seen the fire service station. Amazing. “It’s going to be a CAT (category) 955 firefighting station which will allow big planes and international flights to be landing and taking off here once flight resumes.”

“It takes care of the need of not only the airport but also of the firefighting service. We have seen the emergency evacuation center, trauma center in case, God forbid, anything happens. “There’s arrangement to deal with any eventuality. I have seen the operational fence, I have seen the perimeter fence, significantly done or almost completed. And in the vehicle earlier today, I had said that ‘Anambra means business.’ And I mean it when I say Anambra means business,” the Director General, who was obviously satisfied with the work done, said.

Quick Execution The Chairman and CEO of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, an indigene of the state who was elated that the state government could in a short time build such facility, gave kudos to Governor Willy Obiano and his team for building the airport in record time.

“I shed tears when I landed here because nobody ever believed that this day would come. I remember some months ago when I went on television to tell the world that what I saw here was impressive, some people went to town to condemn me.

“But today, I have been vindicated. This is the fastest airport to be approved by the federal government for a test flight and it is a testament of the quality of job done here. What we have here is the best runway in Africa and the widest runway to be built. This runway can land a Boeing 777 and an Airbus 380, which are the biggest planes.

“We decided to bring a small plane and a big one to show the quality of job the government has done. This airport is not going to serve only Anambra people; it would serve the South East and the entire country. I said four months ago that President Muhammadu Buhari would approve this airport as an international and cargo airport.

“One thing that is certain is that the airport will generate thousands of jobs for our people. Forget where the airport is sited; we have nothing against it because there is plenty of land, which helped to ensure that a 3.7 kilometer runway was built,” Onyema said.

Quality of Work The Anambra State Commissioner for Works and Head of the project delivery team, Marcel Ifejiofor disclosed to newsmen that the level of work done in the airport was 90 percent, but the runway was 100 percent completed.

“The apron is 100 percent completed and the taxi way is 100 percent completed. The terminal is 90 percent completed. The good thing about what we are doing here is that all the equipment has been paid for. The lights, the avio bridges, the security, the Instrument Landing Systems (ILS) and the VOR (Voice Ominidirectional Radio Range) have all been paid for.

“In the next two months, everything should have been completed and we would commission the airport. For landscaping, the contract has been given. Our budget is on a yearly basis,” he explained. He said the Governor of Anambra State had created a community by building the airport, noting that an airport is a community both socially and economically. Ifejiofor added: “In the construction stage, we employed about 2,500 workers and we have the suppliers. In a day, our suppliers bring in about 72 trucks, 30 tonnes of gravels. People are supplying these things and the equipment we are using here are many.

“These include diesel, cement and sand, which are supplied. The food vendors are also benefiting. The employment opportunities are unprecedented.” He remarked that when the terminal is completed, it won’t take anything less than 1000 workers, adding that employment opportunities would cut across aviation security, fire control workers, shops and others.

Certification THISDAY learnt that since it dawned on many that the airport has become a reality, there arose a raging argument whether the airport would be designated as international airport.

Such designation, experts said, is at the discretion of the federal government. But the Anambra state government in building the airport raised it to the standard that it would meet the fire cover of international airport. It also built a runway that met international standards and all other infrastructure in the airport were built to meet the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), the Airport Council International (ACI) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) standards. But it is left to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority to give its verdict on the airport.

Ifejiofor explained, “The licence we have from the Ministry of Aviation recognises it as Anambra International Cargo Airport. It is equally licenced for passengers. Our runway is 3.7 kilometres; the apron is 300 by 200 meters. It can take eight Boeing 737. The critical aircraft for this place is Boeing 737.

“We have a strip of 140 meters on the other side of the runway. We have three access roads to this airport. We have one that is under contract and is being worked on, another one comes from Onitsha road but we have the major entrance that leads to the express. This is 5.7Km; that road is 85 percent completed. You can go through that road.”

Capacity He said that the projected passenger traffic for the airport at the onset would be 1,200 daily because the terminal was designed for 400 passengers at a time. “In other countries, there are airports in every city. The easiest and safest means of transportation is by air. So, it doesn’t matter if we have more airports. As we speak we are doing a tank farm with a capacity of 2.1 million litres of aviation fuel and it is a private sector arrangement. That facility is 80 percent completed. We have the tallest control tower in Nigeria and it is done on concrete.

“The staircase is fire prove. We call it the safe heaven. Once there is fire in that building and we enter the staircase and close it, the fire would not get in. It also has self fire-fighting equipment. We have a tank, we have a fire pump house and we send water. Every room and office has a sprinkler.

“Beside it, we have a firehouse. The firehouse is the most recent fire tenders in the world from Germany. This fire service takes 12,500 liters each and they are three. So the category of fire cover we have here is category 9, which is the biggest,” the Commissioner said.

Training He said the state government has already awarded the contract to train the technical personnel to East Wing. The personnel to be trained include general training, aviation safety and security. The Commissioner also said the Governor visited this site at least once a week and construction has been on for one year and three months and no contractor is owed; “once contractors submit their certificates, he (the Governor) pays. He has not borrowed any money to construct this airport.” Ifejiofor also disclosed that airlines and other service providers are showing interest to come to this airport, adding that so many people want to build maintenance hangar here, including Nigeria’s major carrier, which has indicated interest to set up a Maintenance Repair Overhaul (MRO) facility at the airport. He added that there are plans to set up aviation training school at the airport premises. “Before December 2021, commercial schedule operations would have commenced at this airport,” the Commissioner assured.

Potential Industry expert and CEO of Belujane Konsult, Chris Aligbe, told THISDAY that for the Anambra airport to be of high utility and profitable, it must be designated as cargo airport, whereby the federal government would recognise it as cargo facility to enable it take in cargo directly from overseas. “They should seek an approval for international cargo operation. They should not border about passengers. Passengers can go to Enugu for major international flights, but they should look at cargo and seek approval for international cargo operation. If they should do that and begin to build on it, the airport will become attractive. For cargo, the airport will be the only one in that region, except Enugu. But if it does well as a cargo airport, it can go a long way,” Aligbe said. Also the Chief Executive Officer of Mainstream Cargo Limited, Seyi Adewale said the airport would further endear many economic actors to the state, thereby increasing the state’s prosperity and accessibility considering the current state of the country’s road network Adewale explained that the capacity of the state to generate additional Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) would improve based on rentals and other taxes that would be generated from the airport and associated businesses. He also noted that the enhanced and efficient movement of goods, services and human capital would improve the state’s capacity to attract investment.

BY  Sarah YoungKate Holton

Passengers wearing protective face masks arrive from Paris at Eurostar terminal at St Pancras station, as Britain imposes a 14-day quarantine on arrival from France from Saturday, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in London, Britain August 14, 2020. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls

Britain will allow international travel to resume from May 17 after months of banning most trips abroad, but nearly all major destinations were left off its list of countries open for quarantine-free holidays.

Just 12 countries and territories made the so-called "green list". They include Portugal, Israel, New Zealand, Australia and the tiny Faroe Islands.

The top four destinations - Spain, France, Italy and the United States - were among those left off, angering stricken airlines and holiday companies battling for survival. Those four sit in the amber category, requiring self-isolation for those returning to the UK.

Turkey, another big holiday destination, was added to a red list. Thatrequires travellers to spend 10 days in managed hotel quarantineon their return, which they must pay for themselves.

While a legal ban on all non-essential international travel will be lifted for the first time since January, the government said people should still avoid travelling to countries on the amber or red lists for leisure.

"Today marks the first step in our cautious return to international travel, with measures designed above all else to protect public health and ensure we don’t throw away the hard-fought gains we’ve all strived to earn this year," transport minister Grant Shapps said.

Airlines, holiday companies and tourist hotspots in southern Europe have been waiting for big-spending Britons to start travelling again, but they will have to wait a few months longer for a full rebound to take off.

With Portugal as the first major Mediterranean holiday destination to make the green list, Thomas Cook and Club Med said bookings there were already up 250% on last Friday. TUI said it had added more flights to Portugal.

The list will be reviewed every three weeks. It applies only to people from England for now, but devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are expected to accept it too.

Those travelling to countries on the green list will have to take two COVID-19 tests, one before arrival back into the UK and one within two days of returning.

'EXCESS OF CAUTION'

Trade bodies for pilots and airlines, airports and holiday groups said Britain was being excessively cautious and such a limited reopening would continue to drag on an industry that had taken great strides to manage safe travel.

Experts have also said prices could shoot up for bookings to the few places on the green list. Shapps said airports could also see longer delays as COVID-19 test results must be checked.

Many destination countries also have their own requirements, with many still effectively closed.

"This excess of caution from the government is extremely disappointing for everyone who works in the travel sector," Brian Strutton of the British Airline Pilots Association said.

The travel industry had argued that Britain's rapid vaccination programme should enable it to open up more quickly. But the government has prioritised efforts to prevent coronavirus variants from entering the country.

Heathrow Airport, the country's biggest, and British Airways (ICAG.L) both urged the government to add more countries to the green list when it next reviews travel in early June, and to let those who have been fully vaccinated travel without restrictions.

"The government should help people plan ahead by publishing a list of countries expected to be on the green list for the summer holidays so that passengers are not faced with high prices for last-minute bookings," Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye said.

Before the announcement, the head of British Airways-owner IAG had also called on the UK and the United States to open a travel corridor, given their high vaccination rates. 

($1 = 0.7208 pounds)

By Christopher Jasper, Tim Ross, and Siddharth Vikram Philip

•  Portugal is only major European leisure market on ‘green list’
•  Minister says most nations don’t measure up to safety criteria

(Adds response from travel companies starting in fourth paragraph)

BY  Chinedu Eze 

The federal government has said it expects to raise about $250 million from the private sector to float it proposed national carrier, which is now at the stage of procurement phase.

This was disclosed by the Ministry of Aviation in a publication titled, ‘Status of the Road Map/PPP Projects’ and made available to THISDAY.

The publication stated that the next steps would involve the commencement of procurement phase by placing adverts for request for qualification in the national dailies and foreign media.

The federal government explained that the establishment of a national carrier would enable Nigeria gain optimal benefits from Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA), take full advantage of the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) and introduce competition, leading to competitive fares and services as well as to generate employment.

“The national carrier project will be private sector driven, with government holding not more than five per cent of the shares. The private sector consortium may comprise reputable international airlines, such as Qatar Airways, leasing companies, aircraft manufacturers (OEMS), financial and institutional investors,” the publication stated.

It noted that government would provide the required support by creating enabling environment in terms of sustainable policies, allocation of BASA, routes provision, financial guarantees and ensuring fiscal incentives to sustain the success of the airline.

Government explained that the project development phase has been completed with the development of the outline business case (OBC) and subsequent issuance of compliance certificate by the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), adding that the next step would be placement of request for qualification (RFQ) in local and international media.

On aircraft leasing company, the federal government said the leasing company would provide leasing opportunities for Nigerian and African airlines in order to boost fleet size; alleviate the problems of aircraft leasing and the attendant high insurance premium charges.

“The aircraft leasing company has been structured as a joint venture between the government and the private sector and its business objectives will be to initially lease aircraft from international lessors and subsequently sub-lease to African airlines and in the future acquire and own its aircraft.

“Government is considering providing financial guarantee and ensuring fiscal incentives to facilitate the success of the leasing company,” the Ministry said. Government also said it is at advanced stage in the procurement phase and that a preferred partner has been selected and negotiations would soon commence, adding that the next move would be to commence negotiations with the preferred bidder.

On airport concession, the federal government said the concession of the four major airports in Lagos, Kano, Abuja and Port Harcourt would help fast-track, upgrade and enhance their operational efficiency, profitability and reposition them to operate competitively.

“The project is being structured as a terminal concession under Public, Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement between the government and the private sector, were the private investor will be required to upgrade, manage and operate the airport terminals over the concession period,” the Ministry of Aviation said.

On the status of project development, government said the development phase has been completed with the development of the Outline Business Case (OBC) and subsequent issuance of compliance certificate by the ICRC.

The next step on airport concession would be placement of request for qualification for local and international media. These three major projects were what the President Muhammadu Buhari said his administration would accomplish in the aviation sector.

Others include establishment of Aerospace University and designation of airports as free trade/economic processing zones. But as the second tenure of the administration has gone half way through, these projects are still far from being completed.

The Managing Director, Flight and Logistics Solutions, Amos Akpan told THISDAY that there was not much time left for the Buhari’s administration to realise the projects in the aviation sector. He said if government has money it could realise some of the projects but currently government is broke so it cannot float an airline and that it takes time for the private sector to fund such project because they would look at many variables, including environmental needs, due diligence, risk assessment and environmental assessment.

Akpan said investors would also compare investing in Nigeria and investing in other countries in the continent and make comparison, adding that it would not be easy at this time for the private sector to commit funds in any project in the country.

Akpan said, “The government has more critical areas that contend for the funds available than to use it to float national airline within one year and six months. If they invite private investors, there are procedures those investors need to go through before decision to participate is taken. “They would carry out risk analysis on the proposed investment portfolio. They will carry out due diligence on the subject of investment. There is also the issue of comparative analysis on the environment, which is best environment amongst available options?”

By Khaleel Muhammad

The Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) has rescued seven suspected victims of sex trafficking en-route to Europe.

They were rescued while trying to cross to Niger Republic, en-route to Europe.

Jigawa State Controller of NIS, Ismaila Abba Aliyu said the arrest was made by the personel of Operation Salam, along Kazaure Babura axis in the State.

He explained that the victims with no valid travelling document were planning to cross Niger Republic, Libiya to Europe.

The suspects, between the age of 16-27 are indigenes of Lagos, Kwara, Imo and Ogun states.

The agent was awaiting the victims in Niger Republic and planned to convey them to Libya through deserts.

The Comptroller, however revealed that no incriminating item or substance was found in their luggages.

He said the victims would be handed over to National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) after investigation.

BY  Tom Pilgrim, PA

The Government’s approach to the partial return of foreign holidays suffers from an “excess of caution” and will “delay” the travel industry’s recovery, sector leaders have said.

Travel bosses demanded greater “clarity” over the formation of the green list of destinations and urged ministers to find ways to reduce the costs of Covid testing for holidaymakers and lengthy queues at the border.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announced on Friday that just 12 countries and territories are on the green list of destinations that people in England will be permitted to visit from May 17 without self-isolating on return.

Meanwhile, popular European destinations such as Spain, Italy, France and Greece are on the amber list.

Mark Tanzer, chief executive of travel trade organisation Abta, said this represented “a slower and more cautious approach than previously outlined” which would “delay the industry’s recovery”.

He added: “We understand that public health is the Government’s priority, and it was always expected that the return to international travel would be gradual, but the Government must use the next review to open up travel to more destinations, using the traffic light system to manage risk.”

Mr Tanzer also said the Government should provide grants to businesses such as travel agents and tour operators to support them through “what will continue to be difficult times ahead”.

EasyJet boss Johan Lundgren called on the Government to provide “clarity” about which countries could be added to its green travel list.

“The decision to put so few European countries into the green tier is simply not justified by the data or the science and is inconsistent with the approach to reopen the domestic economy,” he said.

He added: “So, we call on Government to provide transparency on decision-making and clarity on when we can expect other European countries to join the green list so that consumers and airlines alike can plan for this summer.”

Mr Lundgren also urged the Government to “drive down” the cost of testing and remove it for green countries.

“Green really should mean green,” he said.

Mr Lundgren said easyJet will be increasing its flights to green list destinations and launching new routes where possible.

British Airways (BA) chairman and chief executive Sean Doyle said: “What’s clear is that with high levels of vaccination in the UK being matched by other countries, we should see more destinations going ‘green’ before the end of June.”

But he added: “It’s disappointing to hear that despite the stringent safeguards introduced for travel from ‘amber list’ countries, the Government is now suggesting travellers avoid these.

“We cannot stress more greatly that the UK urgently needs travel between it and other low-risk countries, like the US, to restart the economy, support devastated industries and reunite loved ones.”

He said BA would be laying on additional flights from England to Portugal.

Airlines UK, an industry body which represents UK carriers, said the Government must make “major additions” to its green list of travel destinations at the next review point in three weeks.

Chief executive Tim Alderslade said: “This is a missed opportunity and, with so few countries making it on to the green list, represents a reopening of air travel in name only.

“By contrast, the EU has said vaccinated people will be able to travel without restrictions, which leaves the UK at risk of falling behind and not opening up international travel to key markets across Europe as well as the United States.”

Brian Strutton, general secretary of pilots’ union Balpa, accused the Government of an “excess of caution” over its handling of the planned return of foreign holidays, adding that it is “extremely disappointing for everyone who works in the travel sector and the millions of people who are desperate to jet away on holiday or business”.

“Almost all tourist hotspots in Europe including Spain, France and Greece are in the amber category, which is as good as red as far as most tourists are concerned, with potential 10-day quarantine needed on return,” he said.

Mr Strutton added: “Tourists are sat gazing at the amber light, revving their engines, desperate to travel safe in the knowledge that their jabs will protect them. The Government must flick those amber lights to green as soon as it possibly can.”

Heathrow Airport’s chief executive said the Government must “urgently address the unacceptable situation” at the UK border where travellers face long immigration queues.

John Holland-Kaye said: “The Government should help people plan ahead by publishing a list of countries expected to be on the green list for the summer holidays so that passengers are not faced with high prices for last-minute bookings.

“The Government also needs to urgently address the unacceptable situation at the border, where passengers can wait for longer than their flight to the UK.

“Long immigration queues are an inevitable result of under-resourcing, not an inevitable result of extra checks.”

BY Okechukwu Nnodim

More investors are now showing interest in floating airlines in the aviation sector following the increasing level of insecurity on Nigerian roads.

Our correspondent gathered that about 25 investors had commenced moves to acquire Air Operator’s Certificates from the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority.

An AOC is an approval granted by the aviation authority to an investor or aircraft operator to allow it to use aircraft for commercial purposes.

Experts said the AOC would require the operator to have personnel, assets and system in place to ensure the safety of its employees and the general public when it begins operations.

It was also gathered that the high level of insecurity in most parts of Nigeria and the fear among passengers to travel by road had led to an increase in the number of air travellers.

This and some other concerns, according to aviation operators, have caused investors to consider investments in the airline business.

The General Manager, Public Relations Department, NCAA, Sam Adurogboye, said about 25 investors were currently showing interest in setting up airlines in Nigeria.

He told our correspondent that lately about three had received AOCs and were already flying, stressing that Ibom Air, United Nigeria and Nigeria Eagle were all new entrants already operating scheduled flights.

“We have close to about 25 applications for new airlines but acquiring the AOC is a five-phased process,” Adurogboye said.

On what might have caused the attraction for investments in the airline business, he explained that the security situation on roads, among others, was a key factor.

The NCAA official said, “The truth of the matter is that business people are in business to make a profit and in this business, you do your feasibility studies; for example, someone recently sought what it entailed to establish helicopter services.

“A helicopter firm that would be servicing Ondo and Lagos states. Now the reason for this person’s business inclination was just because of the kidnappings on the roads. And so he looked at it that helicopter services from Lagos to Akure would be a good business.”

Adurogoye added, “Also we have the population and the numbers. Take a look at the number of foreign airlines that come into Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt. Air France lands in Lagos and Port Harcourt.

“British Airways lands in Lagos twice daily, and it comes in with about 350 to 400 passengers and these are not travellers on free tickets. So, the numbers are there.”

He noted that on the domestic routes, the number of persons flying out of the over 200 million people in Nigeria was still low in spite of what people might think.

The civil aviation regulator spokesperson said more persons needed to fly, describing the situation as an opportunity for the airlines to tighten up and attract people to fly.

He said, “It is showing that this is a sector that has opportunities that should be tapped. Remember Ethiopia Airlines is the major foreign exchange earner for that country.

“So, whether it is military or democracy, they never tampered with the structure of Ethiopian Airlines. And that airline has been doing well in the whole of Africa.

“In Singapore, the aviation sector drives their economy and they have an airline which is among the biggest in the world. So, aviation is a key sector if managed well and that the interest is coming up is a good thing.”

On the requirements for acquiring an AOC, he said, “When you apply, you go through a five-phased process. However, when the applicants apply and are given what they have to go through in the first phase, some don’t come back until after one year or two.”

An aviation analyst and member of the renowned Aviation Round Table, Olumide Ohunayo, said the desire by investors to invest