MARCH 29, 2023

There is an ABBA movement gathering momentum in southern Africa. Not the Swedish pop group, of course. These travelling malcontents are declaring they’ll fly on Anything But British Airways. It’s an old joke but one that’s doing the rounds again among folk who must flit between London and Johannesburg or Cape Town.

These frequent flyers complain that BA, which had for decades been their airline of choice, is using older planes on the South African routes, that the staff seem uninterested in their customers, and that BA is more expensive than its rivals. Instead, they’re going with the Gulf carriers – Etihad, Emirates and Qatar, via Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Doha, respectively.

It adds credence to a recent Which? survey in which 8,000 respondents put the three Gulf airlines on top and BA was voted 14th out of 15. Passengers declared that “BA is a thoroughly mediocre airline for both long-haul and short-haul”, awarding it two stars (out of five) for food and drink, for in-flight entertainment and for value-for-money. Etihad scored four stars in each of these categories.

Added to this, in a snap price check The Ultimate Travel Company, a major player in the luxury holiday market which ranks South Africa as its clients’ most popular destination, found that Etihad was cheaper than BA on the key London-Johannesburg route.

Prices vary from month to month, but the Gulf airline consistently came out on top. For example, for departures at the end of May, BA charges £770 for economy and £3,870 for business class while Etihad’s fares are £715 and £3,230. In June, BA is charging £10,580 for business class and Etihad £7,815.

So, having taken all this on board, and having been a loyal BA flier for decades, I decided to try out the competition. I flew to Johannesburg via Abu Dhabi with Etihad, the luxury airline bankrolled by sheikhs and boasting the youngest fleet of aircraft in the world. And for good measure I also did what my friends in southern Africa are doing, and broke up the journey with a couple of nights at one of the Emirate’s opulent resorts.

Emirates flight EY26 departs Heathrow at 2pm and gets into Abu Dhabi at 6pm local time. My seven-hour flight on a 787 Dreamliner, to my mind the most passenger-friendly aircraft of the time, was comfortable and entertaining (with a better selection of films than most of the legacy carriers). The crew were impeccably polite. The food and drink were top class. Basically, it confirmed all the views expressed in the Which? poll.

The 6pm arrival meant I had checked in at the Saadiyat Rotana Resort and Villas by 8pm (it’s a 20-minute cab ride from the airport), in time for a light meal and a wander around the sprawling 327-room Saadiyat Island resort. Coming out of a European winter, this was my first encounter with warmth, sunlight and clear summer nights. As I discovered the following morning, it is set on a five-mile stretch of pristine white beach, and an early-morning swim in the sea reset my chakras significantly.

The day ahead would take in a morning visit to the nearby Louvre Abu Dhabi, the first stage in the rulers’ mission to establish Saadiyat Island (literally Island of Happiness) as the cultural centre of the Gulf, and then an afternoon trip across to neighbouring Yas Island for a wild spin around Ferrari World, the high-octane theme park that features some of the most hair-raising rides in the world.

The Louvre, which opened in 2017, is soon to be joined by the Frank Gehry-designed Guggenheim Abu Dhabi and the Zayed National Museum, together providing cultural centrifuge that the rulers claim will broaden the minds of generations to come, and hopefully lure foreign tourists. Although not universally acclaimed by international art critics, and recently cited in court over the trafficking of illicit Egyptian artefacts, this Louvre presents itself as a travel through time, through civilizations, through cultures.

Thus, I strolled from a Jordanian sculpture of a two-headed human from 6500 BC, through to Princess Henuttawy’s Egyptian sarcophagus from 950 BC, and then on to the Dutch tapestry of Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar from 1520, all in the space of a few hundred metres. This was my third visit to the museum, and, for all the brickbats, it remains a favourite.

After a couple hours of contemplative wanderings through the calm pools of light and shade in the presence of great art, it was on to the blood-and-thunder of Ferrari World on neighbouring Yas Island. As Saadiyat is the island of culture, so Yas is the island of theme parks, principally Ferrari World, Yas Waterworld, Warner Brothers World and the soon-to-be-opened Sea World. The lure here is the fastest roller coaster in the world – the Formula Rossa goes from 0 to 240kph in just under five seconds – a thrill that in its own right made the Abu Dhabi excursion worthwhile.

Finally, dinner at the Rotana’s excellent Italian restaurant and then a late-night drive to the airport to catch EY 602 to Johannesburg, which leaves at 1.45am, but after an eight-hour flight delivers you to Johannesburg at dawn (8am). Compared to BA’s direct, 11-hour flight this is a somewhat circuitous, time-consuming route but it certainly made for a pleasant diversion.

The return leg was more time efficient with no break between flights. EY 601 left Johannesburg at 10.15am and arrived in Abu Dhabi at 8.00pm, which meant a six-hour layover before EY 11 took off for London. It arrived at Heathrow at 06.45 the following morning.

So, what, you may ask, is the point of adding so many extra hours to flying time? Well, the luxury of flying Etihad and the languid break on the out leg apart, there is the price advantage. For the rest you’ll have to ask southern Africans. They’re certainly doing it.

MARCH 29, 2023

The Federal Government has disclosed plans to install facial recognition technology at major Airports in the country. In a statement yesterday, the Minister of State,…

By Faruk Shuaibu

The Federal Government has disclosed plans to install facial recognition technology at major Airports in the country.

In a statement yesterday, the Minister of State, Budget and National Planning, Clem Agba, said airports would soon be operating an automatic security measure that would incorporate the use of technology to improve security around Airports and easily detect impostors.

Speaking during a visit by the Japanese Ambassador in Nigeria, Matsunaga Kazuyoshi, Agba said that the technology would be procured through grant agreements between the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Japanese Government with a focus on Lagos and Abuja International Airports in the pilot phase before the project would be extended to Port Harcourt, Enugu and Kano Airport.

The Minister disclosed that as part of the pre-requisites for the processing of the Facial Recognition Technology, he would be leading the Ambassador and the team on a site survey visit to Lagos and Abuja Airports for necessary assessments.

“I am happy that the series of meetings, which began in January this year in Tokyo on this project, aimed at recognizing faces of persons who pass through our international airports has started to yield results.  This, we believe, would further strengthen the security of our people and the country as a whole. This project was conceived in view of several security concerns among Nigerians and the need to nip these growing concerns in the bud”

On his part, Kazuyoshi explained that the use of advanced technology like the facial recognition system would ensure that security threats were reduced in and around Nigeria Airports.

“The initiative will further strengthen Nigeria’s security architecture and encourage more investment opportunities in different sectors of the economy. Similar projects have been implemented in Nairobi and Kenya which have changed the security narratives there.”

He stated that the security solution works through image capturing techniques, Neo Face Watch Logging in, live view, widgets and dashboard, face Search and image manager and basic configuration, among others.

He further called on the Nigeria Police Force and the country’s immigration services to embrace the initiative as it would automate most of their operations and ease day to day security checks in the Airports.

MARCH 30, 2023

By Temitayo Jaiyeola

The Federal Government has rolled out it enhanced e-passport as well as unveiled a new passport production centre and front office in Ilesa, Osun State.

At the launch, the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, stated that the production and front office facilities would make it easier for more travellers to get their Nigerian international passports.

He said the facilities in Ilesa would join others in Lagos, Ibadan, Enugu, Katsina, Zaria, Daura as well as Nigerian foreign missions in countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada, among others, where the enhanced e-passport system has been rolled out recently.

In a statement, Aregbesola said, “The Nigeria Immigration Service has continued to make very remarkable contributions to the overall service delivery and accomplishments of the mandate of the Ministry of Interior, which I have supervised in the last four years.

“The climax of these contributions by the NIS is the widely acclaimed reforms in the passport administration both at home and in the Diaspora.

He also applauded the NIS under the Comptroller General of Immigration, Mr Isah Idris, for their professionalism and commitment to qualitative service delivery.

In his speech, CGI Idris stated that the enhanced e-Passport was significant to the service’s drive for robust service delivery to Nigerians and the travelling public.

He said, “The NIS is more than committed to producing results that meet the needs of our present-day society while making the best use of resources at its disposal.

“The enhanced e-Passport is significant to our drive for robust service delivery to our citizens. We are aware of the challenges being experienced by some of our compatriots in accessing passport services in recent times but with the various efforts being emplaced, such as the unveiling of the enhanced e-Passport here in Ilesa, these challenges will soon give way for the emergence of a more seamless passport application and processing.

“Efforts are ongoing to ensure more front offices are opened in other states to reduce the traffic.”

He added that the new facilities would reduce delays faced by the travelling public to the barest minimum.

He also urged applicants for new passports or reissues to abide by the guidelines and ensure they apply and pay online, avoid middlemen as well as provide correct personal information and verified National Identification Number.

MARCH 30, 2023

(Bloomberg) -- Italy state-owned carrier ITA Airways approved a business plan shared with Deutsche Lufthansa AG, a further step toward selling a minority stake to the German airline. 

The plan envisages the development of ITA Airways’ fleet, network and strategic goals and it has been discussed by Italy’s Finance Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti, ITA Chairman Antonino Turicchi and Lufthansa’s Chief Executive Officer Carsten Spohr in a meeting in Rome on Thursday. The plan hasn’t been publicly disclosed yet. 

“Further progress has been made in the direction of the industrial partnership between the two carriers,” the Finance Ministry said in a separate note. 

Lufthansa aims to buy a minority stake in the successor of Italy’s failed flag carrier Alitalia, strengthening its position in the European airline market. The German carrier is seeking to buy as much as 40% of ITA, with the two parties still negotiating over its value. Daily Corriere della Sera reported that the stake could be worth between €200 million ($218 million) and €250 million.

ITA Airways lost €486 million in 2022, according to a statement. 

APRIL 01, 2023

BY Kasim Sumaina in Abuja

The Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, has said that Nigeria and Qatar need to review their Visa policy noting that the restrictions on both sides were making it difficult to connect the two countries as expected.

Sirika said that the rate of returns on investments in Nigeria is 34 per cent and the highest in the world with a population of over 200 million people which should not be ignored. 

The minister disclosed this during a courtesy visit of the Charge d’Affaires of Qatar, Ahmed Mohammed Y.E Al-Hor to the ministry in Abuja. 

In a statement issued by the Head,  Press and Public Affairs Ministry of Aviation, Mr. Odutayo Oluseyi, Sirika revealed that Nigeria and Qatar should maintain a sustainable relationship, adding that “Nigeria is yearning for investments and is also committed to its policy of ease of doing business for investors.

“The rate of returns on investments in Nigeria is 34 per cent and the highest in the world with a population of over 200 million people and Qatar is rich in oil and gas with other areas of investments just as Nigeria equally has infrastructures required for a smooth business operation.

“Therefore, both countries need to improve their visa policy and the restrictions on both sides are making it difficult to connect the two countries as expected,” Sirika said.

APRIL 01, 2023

“You all are sitting here, and Tinubu is about to be sworn in as President, Tinubu must never be sworn in. He must never be President,” he said.

By Abdulkareem Mojeed
 

An unidentified passenger was on Friday evacuated from an Ibom Air flight over alleged threats against Nigeria’s president-elect, Bola Tinubu.

In a video making the rounds on social media, the man stood in between the passengers’ seat in the middle of the aircraft and could be heard threatening that Mr Tinubu must not be sworn in as Nigerian president next month.

“You all are sitting here, and Tinubu is about to be sworn in as President. Tinubu must never be sworn in. He must never be President,” he said.

“I am a PhD holder in law and I’ll keep saying what I am saying.”

His conducts and utterances attracted the attention of other passengers aboard the flight, while some other passengers asked him go to court.

“Instead of going off this plane, you will go down,” the unidentified man told another passenger who challenged him to disembark from the aircraft.

In the midst of the melee, some airport security officials evacuated the man from the aircraft.

APRIL 01, 2023

In the financial year ending December 2022, Kenya Airways recorded an increase in revenue, losses, and operating costs.

Simpleflying.com reported that Kenya Airways released its full-year financial results for the year ending December 31, 2022 where the airline highlighted an increase in revenue, losses, and operating costs.

The latest statistics released on March 27, showed that the group’s total revenue in 2022 stood at $890 million, a 66% increase from the previous year. However, the group’s operating costs increased by 93% due to the rise in operations and fuel costs.

KQ’s revenue for 2022 increased by 66% to $890 million compared to 2021. The group has projected sustainable recovery by 2024 as the revenue is only five per cent below pre-pandemic levels. A total of 3.7 million passengers were uplifted in 2022, registering a 68% increase compared to 2021.

The increase in revenue was attributed to the increase in travel demand as the world has opened up. While passengers increased by 68 per cent, over 65,000 tonnes of cargo were airlifted by KQ, which is a 3.5 per cent increase.

The deployed capacity in Available Seat Kilometers (ASKs) increased by 75 per cent, ending 2022 at 10.3 billion compared to 5.9 billion in 2021. As a result, the passenger load factors were only 3.9% below the load factors achieved before the pandemic.

Speaking at the investor briefing, Kenya Airways Chairman Michael Joseph said that global air passenger traffic gained momentum and recovered sustainability as governments lifted COVID-19 travel restrictions and passengers grasped the opportunity to resume travel, which was reflective of KQ’s performance. He added;”In 2022, KQs operations were impacted positively by pent-up travel demand, the removal of travel restrictions and KQs efforts to increase frequencies across its network resulting in a strong and sustained recovery in performance compared to a similar period in the prior year. As a result, global passenger traffic recovered from 41.7 per cent of 2019 levels in 2021 to 68.5 per cent in 2022.”

APRIL 01, 2023

LONDON (AP) — British vacation travelers were stuck in hours-long lines as they tried to cross the English Channel on Saturday, with the Port of Dover in England blaming the delays on bad weather, heavy traffic and processing delays by French authorities.

The port warned ferry passengers of severe delays and said it was “deeply frustrated” by the situation, which has become a regular feature of cross-channel travel since Britain’s exit from the European Union. Saturday was the first day of a two-week spring vacation for most schools in Britain.

While the port said bus passengers faced the longest delays, local media reports showed long lines of cars and trucks as well. Ferry operator DFDS said that due to the heavy traffic, it was offering a “shuttle service” that would put passengers on the next available ship as soon as they check in.

“Whilst freight and car traffic was processed steadily regardless of the additional challenging weather conditions and high seasonal volumes, coach traffic suffered significant delays due to lengthy French border processes and sheer volume,” the port said in a statement.

The Associated Press

APRIL 03, 2023

By Funmilayo Fabunmi

Barring any last-minute change of heart, the Federal Government will in the next one or two weeks begin the demolition of multibillion-naira private jet hangars located at the Murtala Muhammed International Lagos.

The Federal Government said the hangars were obstructing the efficient use of the international wing airport and there was a need to demolish them to pave the way for the expansion of the new international terminal built with Chinese loans at the Lagos airport.

The Minister of aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, who made the government’s plan known while unveiling 10 new fire tenders, said at the Lagos airport, said the expansion of the new international terminal in Lagos would commence soon.

He said, “Those two hangars, Dominion and Evergreen, they will have to go and give way for our airport to be more efficient. We are not operating the Lagos airport at full capacity and it is household knowledge now, we have some obstructions that would be removed within the next one or two weeks, so that we can expand the apron; so that Lagos can have the full airport in full use to 100 per cent.

”And they can’t sit there in public interest and we would certainly shift them somewhere, it has to go. You cannot deny this city Lagos and the country in general from the use of their airport.

He added, ”When we demolished the Accident Investigation Bureau building that belongs to us, some people said it was to move them to Abuja, they have never been in Lagos, their headquarters is in Abuja and if the entire country is to move to Abuja, what is small AIB of 200 people. I don’t need to demolish their building, if I say go and he doesn’t go, I will fire him, I appointed him, big deal.”

According to the minister, the government agencies have been directed to come up with a document that will make the aviation industry more efficient, adding that this paper will form part of his handover notes.

”Government is a serious business, if there is no government will not be able to exist, so, what needs to be done will be done,” he added.

Dominion Hangar is reportedly own by the Senior Pastor of Living Faith World Outreach (Winners Chapel), Bishop David Oyedepo, while a former Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation  Authority, Dr Harold Demuren, is rumoured to have a stake in Evergreen Apple.

Following the opening of the Chinese-built new international terminal last year March, international and foreign airlines with jumbo planes could not move to the facility due to its small apron size. The development has hampered the efficient use of the facility said to be worth $300m.

In a bid to expand the apron side and guarantee optimum use of the facility, the government said some structuring obstructing the expansion of the apron size would be removed. Last year, the Federal Government demolished the headquarters of the AIB located behind the new terminal.

However, the government could not reportedly demolish other structures, especially the private jet hangars owned by private entities due to litigation concerns.  There are reports that the government may pay about N5bn in compensation if it will have to demolish the hangars and other buildings located behind the new MMIA terminal.

It is unclear whether there is litigation on the matter or whether the Federal Government and the owners of the hangar have entered an agreement on the issue.

An official of Evergreen Apple could not immediately comment when reached for a reaction. Also, Dominion Hangar could not be reached for comments as of the time of filing this report.

The Assistant General Secretary, Aviation Safety and Round Table Initiative, Mr Olumide Ohunayo, while reacting to the development, said, “It is surprising that these actions are being taken after the elections when they should have been taken about four or five years ago. The terminal has been sitting there for about four or five years. It is about two months to the end of the administration. I feel we should have waited for the new administration on this. The government has to pay heavy compensation for this if it will go ahead to do it; because people have gone to banks to take loans to do these projects.”

APRIL 04, 2023

Foreign airlines operating in Nigeria have deployed several means to avoid collection of ticket sales proceeds in naira so as to reduce the amount of money trapped in Nigeria.

The National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA) told BusinessDay that these measures have seen airlines recoup over 50 percent of their ticket sales in foreign currencies, thereby reducing the amount of money trapped in the country.

Since last year, airlines have stopped travel agents in Nigeria from issuing tickets emanating from other countries into Nigeria in a bid to reduce the amount of money that would be trapped.

The development has forced Nigerian travellers to bypass travel agents in the country to purchase tickets from agents in Ghana and other African countries over skyrocketing fares as a result of their inability to repatriate up to $744 million.

Airlines also blocked low ticket inventories, leaving high inventories to be sold in naira only while the low ticket inventories on most airlines’ websites can only be bought with dollar cards only. This is in a bid to cushion the effect of their trapped funds in Nigeria.

Delta Airlines, the only US carrier flying into Nigeria from its base in Atlanta Georgia, has been selling air tickets to travellers in dollars. Jimmy Echelgruen, the airlines sales director for Africa, the Middle East and India, confirmed the development.

Susan Akporiaye, president of NANTA, told BusinessDay that the measures deployed by the airlines have seen airlines realise over 50 percent ticket sales in dollars.

“Since airlines deployed these measures, travellers are forced to pay with their dollar cards instead of buying through the travel agents. Buying through agents will mean you pay about N1.8 million for an economy ticket to the United States and over N1.2 million to London. Buying with dollar cards costs less,” Akporiaye said.

She said most people now buy directly from the airlines’ websites, which means they have to use their dollar cards to make ticket purchases.

The NANTA president explained that while Emirates and Etihad Airlines suspended passenger flight operations into Nigeria, some airlines have found ways to mitigate the current foreign exchange crisis and are still making huge sales from tickets sold out of Nigeria.

She said some foreign airlines even requested to operate more frequencies into Nigeria because sales have been good for them in recent times.

In the last one year, foreign airlines have been finding it difficult to access their funds from tickets sold in the country as a result of foreign exchange scarcity and have resorted to buying dollars from the black market for as high as N700 to a dollar as against the Central Bank of Nigeria’s rate of N429/$1.

The trapped funds grew from $100 million in February 2022 to over $744 million last month, according to the International Air Transport Association, making it very difficult for airlines to operate seamlessly.

“People are still travelling, even though our sales are not showing the volume, it is cheaper for people to buy tickets outside Nigeria than buying from Nigeria because the naira exchange rate is very high. The airlines are opening cheaper ticket inventories outside Nigeria but closed these inventories in Nigeria,” said Bankole Bernard, managing director/founder Finchglow Travels and former NANTA president.

“If you enter the aircraft coming into Nigeria, they are still full. People are coming home and the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority is losing five percent on every ticket that is not bought from Nigeria. If we are losing five percent and the plane is full, it means Nigeria is like a dumping ground,” he added.

According to him, a return flight from Lagos to London cost over one million naira, and even though airlines have opened up more inventories, ticket prices are still high and airlines do not want to add to their funds already tied down.

Chijioke Okeke, a student who recently travelled from Nigeria to Turkey to study, told BusinessDay that the best travel deals were accessible using his dollar card.

“All my friends use their dollar cards to buy air tickets. Before now, we would buy from travel agents but currently, we have to do it on our own because buying through travel agents costs us over 100 percent more,” Okeke said.