Nigeria Designates Five Airports for Free Trade, Open Sky
The Federal Government has designated five international airports to support the implementation of both the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) agreements.
These airports are Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos; Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja; Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano; Port Harcourt International (PHIA), Omagwa, and Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu.
Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, who disclosed this at the recent National Action Committee on the implementation of AfCFTA and engagement with the aviation industry, said efforts had been on to upgrade these airports’ terminals to a competitive global standard, with PHIA and NAIA already in operation. Read more
Travel Agencies Adopt Four Airlines for Continental Free Trade
Travel agencies in the country have adopted four foreign airlines as trade partners in the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) era.
The airlines are Kenya Airways, Egypt Air, Ethiopian Airlines, and Rwanda Air.
The agencies, under the aegis of the National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA), said the four major African indigenous airlines were selected as part of a strategy to make the best of the AfCFTA initiative for travel and tourism.
NANTA noted that an organized trade and tourism marketing among African nations, facilitated by well-thought-out aviation connectivity, African union passport, and synchronized visa regime, among nations under the AFCFTA deal, could change the economic narratives of the estimated 1.3 billion population of African nations. Read more
Airlines Face Cash Crunch as Travel Revival Fears Grow
Second summer lost to the coronavirus crisis could trigger a spate of airline failures and bankruptcy filings
The latest setbacks to the return of air travel are stoking concern that a cash crunch is about to bear down on the airline industry.
A second summer lost to the coronavirus crisis would likely trigger a spate of airline failures and bankruptcy filings, alongside a repeat of 2020s bailouts, job cuts, and jetliner deferrals and cancellations, according consultants IBA Group.
In just the past week, the optimism that took the Bloomberg World Airlines index to the highest since the start of the pandemic has evaporated.
TUI, the world’s biggest tour operator, scaled back its summer schedule to reflect a peak season that will not start until July, at least two months later than normal. Ryanair Holdings held a press briefing to reassure would-be holidaymakers they could change flights for free and exhorted them not to be “panicked” by negative headlines. Read more
Passengers Seek End to Travel Restrictions
A new survey has shown that more travellers are confident to travel by air despite the pandemic.
The survey released by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) also showed public frustration with current travel restrictions, but acceptance of a travel app to manage health credentials for travel.
According to the report, 88 per cent believe that when opening borders, the right balance must be struck between managing COVID-19 risks and getting the economy going again. About 85 per cent believe that governments should set COVID-19 targets (such as testing capacity or vaccine distribution) to re-open borders.
A total of 84 per cent believe that COVID-19 will not disappear, and we need to manage its risks while living and traveling normally. About 68 per cent agreed that their quality of life has suffered from travel restrictions, while 49 per cent believe that air travel restrictions have gone too far.
While there is public support for travel restrictions, it is becoming clear that people are feeling more comfortable with managing the risks of COVID-19.
People are also feeling frustrated with the loss of freedom to travel, with 68 percent of respondents indicating their quality of life is suffering as a result. Travel restrictions come with health, social and economic consequences. Nearly 40 per cent of respondents reported mental stress and missing an important human moment as a result of travel restrictions. And over a third have said that restrictions prevent them from doing business normally. Read more
Workers Express Worry Over Debt Toll at FAAN
Workers in the aviation sector have expressed worry over clients’ multiple indebtedness to the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).
The workers, under the aegis of the Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals (ANAP), said the flagrant abuse of privileges, unremitted dues and rents had dwindled revenue accruable to FAAN with telling effects in its statutory duties.
The body, in a petition to the Minister of Aviation, lamented that various clients of FAAN allegedly refused to honour agreements on land, rented shops, concessions, and billboard adverts.
The union also observed that there were untapped FAAN revenue points, which shouldn’t have persisted unabated. They called for urgent action by the government to block these leakages in the system.
Besides, the Secretary-General of ANAP, Abdulrasaq Saidu, said of specific concern to the union was the propriety of the Federal Government, and not FAAN, to take responsibility for the repayment of the $500 million Chinese loans obtained from the Exim Bank of China for the construction of new terminals in some parts of the country. Read more
Experts Highlight Aviation Sector Challenges
The aviation industry has suffered most during the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the lockdown imposed by most countries, experts agreed at the 2021 Arab Aviation Summit. Under the theme, ” Arab Aviation in the New Normal”, the 2021 Arab Aviation Summit, which started on Monday brought together experts to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the industry and provide ways to overcome it.
According to Aviation Pros, experts agreed on how “catastrophic” the pandemic’s impact has been on the aviation industry, describing it as “the most brutal and most challenging crisis the aviation industry has ever faced”.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said earlier that airlines would lose $84.3 billion in 2020.
“Aviation has a huge contribution into every country’s economy. Most of the businesses were impacted negatively by the pandemic, but the pandemic’s impact on the aviation sector is the most difficult, as we have the most expensive liabilities,” Air Arabia Group CEO, Adel Al-Ali, said during his opening remarks.
Al-Ali said the aviation sector was resilient and agile, as people want to travel.
“It is about connecting; people want to be connected which is our job, to connect people together,” he explained.
“The Arab Aviation Summit was created to promote the knowledge of aviation to the public as people know a little about aviation,” he added. Read more
Stakeholders Call for Passenger Protection by Airlines
Stakeholders in the aviation industry have called on airlines to develop a collaborative system that will ensure that the interest of passengers is protected when they cancel or delay flights.
The objective of the collaboration is to enable a passenger to travel with any available flight to his destination as long as he has valid ticket from any of the domestic carriers.
Many industry players who spoke to THISDAY said such an initiative would have evolved many years ago, disclosing that airlines in many countries of the world have adopted the system to protect air travellers and also help themselves by not putting their operations under severe strain.
This, they said, would enable an airline to still airlift its passengers even when its aircraft is AOG (aircraft on the ground) due to technical hitches or any other problem, which are the major reasons why flights are delayed or canceled in Nigeria.
Such passenger protection agreement will provide a settlement platform, possibly supervised by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), where the airlines will share revenue according to given guidelines, including whether base or average fares would be used for such tickets, they said. Read more
We Spent N100bn In Aviation Sector In 5yrs — Sirika
The federal government spent in excess of N100bn in the aviation industry in five years, the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, has said.
He said the money was spent to develop the aviation sector between 2015 till date.
The minister said this in Abuja at the 8th edition of the Aviation workers’ week and award night organized by the Joint Consultative and Negotiating Council (JCNC) and the federal ministry of aviation, with the theme: ‘The challenges of COVID-19 pandemic to the Nigerian Aviation industry: the part to recovery.’
He was represented at the event by the minister of state for Science and Technology, Barrister Abdullahi Mohammed.
Sirika said the funds were spent on infrastructure, equipment among other things.
He further said staff welfare, training, facilities upgrade, remodeling of the airports were some of the other places the funds were expended within the time under review. Read more
We’ll Only Allow 200 Nigerian Travellers Every Two Weeks, UAE Lists Conditions to Restart Flights
The United Arab Emirates has listed conditions for the resumption of commercial flights between Nigeria and the Emirates.
The UAE Embassy in Abuja made this known in a letter to the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Amongst other things, the letter dated March 24, 2021, stated that only 200 passengers from Nigeria would be allowed into the UAE every two weeks.
The PUNCH had earlier reported that the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority on February 5 barred Emirati carriers from Nigeria, alleging flouting of COVID-19 protocols as well as the introduction of rapid antigen test as a requirement for Dubai travellers against the Nigerian government’s negative PCR requirements. Read more
Matters Arising from Azman Air’s Recent Suspension
When the Nigerian aviation industry woke to a statement which emanated from the Office of the Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) Capt. Musa Nuhu on March 16, announcing the suspension of the operations of Azman Air over safety concerns, no industry expert expressed any form of surprise. Some who didn’t want to speak to Daily Sun on record, said the measure was a prompt and inevitable development that many saw coming.
In suspending all Boeing 737 aircraft in the Fleet of Azman Air Services Limited, effective from March 15, 2021, Captain Nuhu cited Section 35 (2) of the Civil Aviation Act, 2006 and Part 1.3.3.3 (A) of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig.CARs) 2015.
He said the suspension was to enable the Authority to conduct a safety audit of the airline to determine the root cause(s) of three serious incidents that took place within six weeks and recommend corrective actions to forestall re-occurrence. Read more
Global Airports to Bleed US$94b in 2021: ACI World
The analysis was published in the Advisory Bulletin: The impact of Covid-19 on the airport business and path to recovery.
As prospects for a recovery in 2021 begin to emerge, ACI World estimates that different regions of the world will recover at different rates. At country level, markets having significant domestic traffic are expected to recover in 2023 to pre-Covid-19 levels, while markets with a significant share of international traffic are unlikely to return to 2019 levels until 2024 or even 2025 in some cases.
ACI World has said an interoperable health data trust framework to facilitate safe border reopening and cross-border travel must be established to support this recovery. ACI added that it supports any system which will allow testing and vaccination data to be shared consistently, effectively, and in a way that protects the personal data of those that use it.
“The world is embarking on the biggest vaccination campaign in history, and we see positive indications in countries with high rates of vaccination and ACI World has discerned an escalation of these encouraging signs and prospects for recovery with a surge in travel in the second half of 2021 expected,” ACI World director general Luis Felipe de Oliveira said. Read more