Aviation
Need To Fund Nigeria’s Aviation Industry
About 80 years ago, Ni
geria joined the league of aviation nations with the celebration of the first flight in Kano. Since its prosperous beginning, the industry has continued to drift like a rudderless ship.
This was the assessment of the Aviation Roundtable (AR), the sector’s watchdog, which described the state of the industry as comatose. Speaking through its president, Captain Dele Ore and Secretary-General, Samuel Akerele, the AR said the industry had performed below expectation given the strides recorded by other countries which started at the same time with Nigeria.
“The industry in Nigeria is in doldrums”, they declared, pointing out that a cumulative impact of policies, bad decisions, the market competition and financing difficulty is destroying the Nigerian aviation industry.
Obviously, the biggest problem facing the Nigerian aviation industry seems to be lack of serious attention and political will. The economy also has much to do with its strength. It is against this backdrop that the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) before the just-concluded general elections said its members would not vote for any candidate that does not have the interest of the aviation industry at heart or in his agenda. Aviation Roundtables President, Captain Dele Ore, observed that airlines from advanced countries are stronger while those owned by Nigerians are denied the much-needed goodwill and very strong political base for survival.
In an indsturry which does not brook mistakes like the aviation, lack of adequate regulating will result to an attempt to cut corners with possible catastrophic consequences. The airport system the world over runs on support systems, which form the basis of its strength. In Nigeria, it is an orduous task running the airports with low capitalisation, wet and dry leasing of aircraft and unstable manpower retention rate, which are symptoms of an economically weak industry.
Stakeholders are divided over the seeming delay of allocations to managers who are saddled with the task of managing the 21 airports across the country. It is well known that the management of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria(FAAN) for some reasons has denied airport managers the needed funds to bring about seamless running of the airports. Attempts to impress on the authorities to fast-track the timely release of either monthly or quarterly allocation to the airports have been fruitless and the dwindling revenue of the airport authorities may have erected roadblock to attempts to bring about seamless operations at the nation’s gateways.
There is no doubt that the World Bank through its security and aviation projects programme is assisting the FAAN in fixing critical airport infrastructure in Nigeria. That is not enough for an industry that is very crucial to the nation’s economy.
Foreign airlines operating in and out of Nigeria are doing very well while the participation of Nigerian carriers is still negligible due to constraints brought about by bad policies of our government.
Unfortunately, the dwindling value of the Naira against other foreign currencies has worsened the situation for Nigerian airlines and it is even more disturbing that the nation has no credit agency exclusively put in place to fund aviation like other sectors of the economy. Furthermore, the interest rates charged by banks and financial institutions on loans are too high for any airline to borrow and operate profitably.
Some of the sore points in the aviation industry include the controversy over the N19.5 billion intervention fund, unfriendly policies, insensitivity in designating local operators on regional and international routes, the high attrition rate of aviation professionals as well as the invasion of lows on the runway of airports amongst others.
While celebrating Nigeria at 50 last October, the management of IRS Airlines said the aviation sector has fared well in the past 10 years but that more needed to be done to sustain the Category One status which only goes to show that the effort of the current administration has moved towards improving security and safety in the aviation sector. The certification of the category one also shows that there is confidence in the industry while passenger traffic has increased, showing that people are being encouraged to fly the various airlines in the country.
Although security at the 21 airports across the nation and a few other facilities have been strengthened in the past ten years to forestall further breaches, government should take second look at the aviation sector with a view to financing and working cooperatively to develop a global standardised approach as there is no doubt that the aviation sector still face a threat of how to sustain the system in the long-term.
For the air transport industry in this country to reach its projected growth potential, aviation authorities must work towards an integrated trans Atlantic system that will achieve standards. The EU, Canada and the US are among the highest in the aviation business in the world so Nigeria must step up her cooperation with these countries to have a clear way forward in the aviation industry.
Last year, FAAN introduced a new credit policy that would enable it to recover the over N20 billion debts owed it by airlines and concessionaires.
Though the policy appears laudable, the implementation has run into a hitch.
The new Director of Finance and Accounts of FAAN, Dr. Azuka Onyia, on her assumption of office, threatened to use every available means to recover FAAN’s debts, but the success of her action remains a matter of debate, how she intends to go about it in an industry where pressure from Abuja could upturn the action.
Sometime ago, last year to be precise, the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria passed a vote of no confidence on the Minister of Aviation, Mrs Fidelia Njeze for her inability to carry the industry forward, alleging that the Minister had derailed in repositioning the critical sector.
The association said the minister registered little or no achievements since her coming to office. They cited a case where ATSSAN wanted to adopt a measure to recover debts owned the various parastatals by domestic airlines but when Arik Airline ran to the minister on grounding its aircraft, the minister allegedly gave the impression that they have to take permission from her before they started grounding airlines and the unions were not happy about that. It takes a person with the political will to oversee the management of the aviation sector because the various parastatals including the airports require funds to perform their statutory duties.
Considering the much complaints by FAAN over lack of funds, one is forced to call for a probe into the activities of the authority as there was an alleged misappropriation of funds in recent time. The Federal Government should provide funds for capital projects that stakeholders can monitor to ensure prudence and transparency.
Nigeria can not afford to lose the hardearned category one because of some unscrupulous elements, who for their personal interests defraud the aviation industry instead of using the resources or revenue coming out from the airports to provide infrastructure. There is seeming lack of inconsistency in the FAAN management.
This is why the Federal Government must beam its light on the sector with a view to bringing it out of the doldrums.
Government should take urgent steps to address issues of infrastructure decay, the replacement of decaying infrastructure and provision of funds so that the industry can grow. The areas Nigeria needs cooperation or partnership with other giant airlines or countries include safety, security, technology, airport infrastructure, air navigation, ground handling and training, and of course, funding of the aviation sector.
An effective air transport sector is a critical element of a nation’s competitiveness. The international Air Transport Association’s (IATA) global standards and technical expertise can contribute significantly to the development of safe, efficient and environmentally responsible aviation in Nigeria and provide the country with a strong framework to help build an even more competitive Nigerian air transport sector, with the benefits being spread across the economy. The Nigerian aviation industry can achieve a grater standard if its finances are judiciously used with the application of industry-leading management.
Nigeria’s aviation infrastructure is a mess and its needs to get better. There is need for a comprehensive review of the funding of all government agencies at the federal, state and local levels including the airports to enhance productivity and service. Our politicians and leaders must have the political will to drive the aviation industry towards greater achievements, and the time is now.
There is no hard and fast rulers about this because there is a general attitude of mind of politicians about the relationship of travel or air transport expenditure to the total cost of maintaining the airports.
Shedie Okpara
The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), established via the Act of Parliament, has the mandate to provide safe, efficient, effective and economic air navigation services to airspace users, through deployment of new technologies and dedicated workforce.
The vision is for NAMA to be one of the leading Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSP) in the w
NAMA’s Acting Managing Director,orld.
Mr Mathew Pwajok, said the agency had initiated relevant projects to enable it live up to expectation.
He spoke recently when he featured at the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum in Abuja.
Pwajok said the government was ready to install Category 3 Instrument Landing System (ISL) in three international airports in the country.
He listed the airports as: Malam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano, Port Harcourt International Airport and the Katsina Airport, bringing airports with Category 3 ILS to five.
According to him, ILS is a navigational equipment that provides lateral guidance for an aircraft, sky guidance for the aircraft and the longitudinal guidance for the aircraft when landing.
“Navigational facility is one of the very critical requirements for access into an airport safely, efficiently and economically. We place very high premium on the procurement and installation of navigational equipment.
“Over the past five years, we have deployed significantly a large number of navigational equipment. I can go through some of them by justifying my statement.
“Currently, we have installed what we call Category 3 Instrument Landing System (ILS) at Lagos and Abuja airports.
“We are also planning to install addition ones in Kano, Port Harcourt and Katsina.”
The NAMA chief, who explained that Category 3 landing system was the highest category for landing anywhere in the world, said that government was set to invest heavily to ensure that all the nation’s international airports had the facility.
Pwajok said that lighting system would complement Category 3.
He said that Category 3 approach system was also required to guide pilots, using the instrument landing system.
“Currently, we have installed instrument landing system of Category 2 that requires what we call low visibility operations.
“In operations, where the visibility is below 800m and not lower than 300m, we use what we call a Category 2 instrument landing system.
“For a Category 1 instrument landing system, which are few, you need 800m visibility or more.
“That is to say, visibility must be about 1km (1,000m) for you to be able to do a Catigory1 landing system, the lowest of the three categories.
“For Category 3, when the aircraft and the flight crew are adequately certified for it, with the visual lighting system available, you can basically land in zero visibility, “he said.
Pwajok said that Category 2 ILS was installed in Sokoto, Kano, Minna, Kaduna, Maiduguri, Yola, Jos, Enugu and Benin airports.
He said that Category 2 ILS was currently being installed in Ilorin, Ibadan and Akure airports, noting that some state airports such as Gombe, Kebbi, Bayelsa and Anambra had already installed Category 2 ILS facilities.
The NAMA boss explained that the airport at Lafia in Nasarawa State, which also had Category 2 ILS had not been opened to services because it had not yet been inaugurated.
Pwajok said that Categroy1 facilities were still being used in few airports, pointing out that government had planned to replace them with Category 2 ILS.
“We have other equipment that can guide airplanes to airports and we call them Very High Frequency Omni-Directional Range (VOR), a ground-based electronic system that provides information for high and low altitude routes and airport approaches.
“The VOR is like a broadcast station. It transmits information. Unlike radio station where you tune and hear music, for this navigational facility, when you tune, it gives you directional guidance.
“It directs you for example, if you are going to Lagos, it shows you where the direction to Lagos is. So you fly on that flight path.
“It will also give you the distance to where you are going as well as distance from where you are coming from,” Pwajok said.
The NAMA boss further said the agency was currently upgrading control towers in four international airports to enhance air traffic management.
Pwajok said that the control towers, installed over 10 years ago, were obsolete and as such needed to be upgraded.
“On our project, we currently have a safe tower project. In 2005/2006, we have some air craft crashes.
“In 2007, the Obasanjo government implemented what we called the safe tower, which simply refers to automated air travel management system at the control towers of Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt airports.
“Now, these systems after over 10 years are due for upgrade and currently that is what we are doing to upgrade the control tower at the four international airports- Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt.
“ This is to bring them in line with the right capacity, the right functionality and capability for enhanced air traffic management at these airports,’’ he said.
Pwajok explained that a total raider coverage, that was inaugurated over 10 years ago by then President Goodluck Jonathan also needed an upgrade.
He said the Federal Government approved N28 billion for the upgrade of the Total Radar Coverage of Nigeria (TRACON).
“They are in nine locations – Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Port Harcourt, Ilorin, Obubra in Cross Rivers, Maiduguri, Talata-Mafara in Kebbi and Numan in Adamawa.
“These equipment provide a complete coverage of Nigeria on raider, so aircraft flight within the country are seen and controlled by air traffic controllers in the radar.
“So, the equipment are being upgraded to be in line with global standards and also in line with the expectations of increased traffic volume and requirement for safety and efficiency of flight.
“So this project is currently ongoing and we are doing a survey movement raider and ground control at Lagos and Abuja that will provide surface guidance for aircraft,” he said.
He said once they were upgraded, there would then be a surveillance control from departure gate to arrival gate that would be fully automated.
He added that there would be an automated system that would sequence aircraft on departure, stressing that this would completely reduce delays.
“At the moment what we do is that the air traffic controller uses his judgment to determine which aircraft comes first.
“But automated system will detect the speed of an aircraft, the performance and the direction the aircraft is coming from and will now have an air traffic controller to sequence them on arrival.
“We are implementing that in Lagos and Abuja, and hopefully by this year, this project will be completed as it is one of our key projects,’’ he added.
Pwajok said the country currently has 13 modernised and automated control tower projects to enhance air traffic control at the airports, adding that similar projects had been completed in Zaria and Kastina states.
He said that the control towers had been integrated with metrological data, where regular weather reports would be brought into the system.
On navigation, he said the agency had deployed a very High Frequency Omni-directional radio-range (VOR) Doppler that would guide aircraft, either over flying on airspace or flying from one airport to the other.
He said that this equipment had replaced initial landing system instrument, adding that the satellite navigation system that gives precision on aeronautical management had been deployed.
According to him, Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) have been installed in 26 locations – 24 in airports, one in NAMA and one in NEMA headquarters to facilitate search and rescue.
According to him, this VSAT will provide digital exchange of information at a very high speed and voice exchange of information using ground radius and air ground communication between air traffic controllers and pilots.
He said if fully completed, it would enhance air ground communication, ground to ground communication and electronic management of information of flight movement.
The NAMA boss assured that the agency would do all within its powers to boost air safety in Nigeria.
By: Gabriel Agbeja
Agbeja writes for News Agency of Nigeria NAN
At least 300 staff of Arik Air have been relieved of their appointments by the airline’s management.
This was announced in a statement by the airline on Friday.
It blamed the sacking on the impact of COVID-19 pandemic.
The press statement was titled, “Arik Air management declares 300 staff redundant”.
The company explained that a redundancy package would be provided for the affected workers with the help of the aviation unions.
The statement read in part, “Arising from the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to the constrained ability of the airline to complete heavy maintenance activities and return its planes to operations, stunted revenues against increasing operational costs, the management of Arik Air (In Receivership) has declared 300 staff members redundant to its current level of operations.
“The leadership of the impacted unions has been contacted to negotiate a redundancy package for the affected staff.”
The airline added that over 50 per cent of its workforce of over 1,600 staff have been on furlough in the past six months.
In a separate statement also forwarded to our correspondent by its Public Relations and Communications Manager, Banji Ola, the airline apologised to passengers whose travel plans were disrupted by the protest carried out by the National Union of Air Transport Employees on December 3, 2020.
The picketing disrupted operations in Lagos and prevented the airline from processing passengers at the Murtala Muhammed Airport Domestic Terminal 1 and 2.
South-East leaders on Saturday, lauded the Federal Government on the matured and responsive manner it handled all issues relating to the EndSARS protest and agitation.
The leaders of the zone, which included Governors, Senators, House of Representatives members as well as traditional, religious and youth leaders, gave the commendation in a communiqué issued after their meeting with a Presidential delegation in Enugu.
The presidential delegation was led by Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, who is the Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari.
“We thank President Buhari for the speed and restraint with which he handled the EndSARS protest, which has engendered peace throughout the country, especially the South-East.
“We, therefore, request the President to look into demands of various groups and youths with a view to resolving them,’’ the statement, which was read by the Chairman of South-East Governors’ Forum, Governor Dave Umehi, said.
It also called for joint operation by security agencies and local vigilant groups into all forests in the zone to flush out criminals and killer herdsmen with AK47 rifles.
“But we pledge our commitment to continuous coexistence with peaceful herdsmen who have been living peacefully with us.
“We stand for an indivisible and united Nigeria, built on love, fairness, equity and justice. We believe that under this platform – NIGERIA; we are bigger and stronger,’’ it said.
It also called on the Federal Government to continue its support and diplomatic push for the former Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, to be elected as the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
The statement thanked the Federal Government for the timely interventions in Akanu Ibiam International Airport rehabilitation as well as intervention in road infrastructures in the zone.
“We are grateful for the attention given to the second Niger Bridge and completion and inauguration of the Zik’s mausoleum.
“However, we urge the Federal Government to give attention to the completion of the current road projects within the zone,’’ it said.
The statement said that the states in the zone will provide money for the compensation for those affected by the EndSARS protest, help to rebuild police stations and their logistics; while engaging the youths constantly to forestall any violent development in the zone.
“We have plans to set up various empowerment programmes to gainfully engage the youths. The governors also plan to mainstream the youths in their governance to give them a sense of belonging.