NG Eagle Airlines: Senate Committee Was Misled — Na’Allah
LAGOS – Sen. Ibn Na’Allah, a member of the Senate Committee on Aviation, has said that the committee was misinformed on its directive to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to suspend the issuance of Air Operators’ Certificate to the startup carrier, NG Eagle Airlines.
This is as the senator warned against political interference in NCAA in carrying out its duties.
The senator stated this on Wednesday in Abuja during the 50th annual general meeting (AGM) of the Nigerian Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA).
Na’Allah specifically said that the committee was misled on the controversial issue of NG Eagle AOC and apologised to Nigerians.
Also, he charged NCAA to go ahead with its duties and perform its statutory functions of the industry as the regulators without interference.
He said, “The Senate does not wish to interfere in the statutory functions of NCAA.”
Recall that the Senate Committee in a letter signed by its Chairman, Sen. Smart Adeyemi, had last week directed NCAA to suspend the ongoing issuance of AOC to NG Eagle Airlines.
The letter dated October 11, 2021, and addressed to the Director-General, NCAA, said that the directive was necessary following the huge debts of Arik Air to the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and other government agencies in the sector. Read more
Ethiopian Airlines in Deal for Deployment of Disinfecting Robot
In a virtual signing ceremony, Ethiopian Airlines Group and Aero HygenX executives, inventors of Ray – an autonomous aircraft sanitization robot – signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) outlining a plan for fleetwide deployment and regional marketing of Aero HygenX’s autonomous UV-C light disinfecting robot.
The signing of this MoU marks the first foray into the African market for Aero HygenX, a Canadian technology company with its safe, efficient, and chemical-free solution designed for aircraft cabins and rail cars. Ethiopian Airlines has become the first African carrier to roll out the technology that takes aviation safety to the next level.
It is the intent of the two parties to establish local final assembly capabilities for Aero HygenX’s autonomous UV-C disinfecting robot ‘Ray’, thus creating local employment opportunities and expediting the rollout of the chemical-free, pathogen-killing solution for Ethiopian Airlines, a statement from the airline said.
The MoU further sets out to foster the exchange of expertise and ideas between Aero HygenX and the Ethiopian Airlines Innovation Hub, which leads all innovation activities across the carrier. The purpose of the Innovation Hub collaboration is to optimize the product and determine where else in the re-travel chain the disinfection technology can be useful.
Ethiopian Airlines Group CEO Tewolde GebreMariam said: “As we emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic, aircraft disinfection and safety are top priorities for us. We feel a deep responsibility to reassure travelers and set an example by investing in sustainable hygiene solutions that will benefit not only our staff and passengers but also the entire region.
“Aero HygenX has demonstrated competence and ingenuity with the Ray autonomous disinfecting robot, and we look forward to implementing the solution as soon as possible.”
In addition to the airline’s ‘safety-first policy and the increasing number of safety-conscious travelers, the MOU signed with HygenX will help it attract more customers and recover quickly.
In Ottawa, CEO Arash Mahin signed for the Aero HygenX team and was accompanied by the firm’s Executive VP of Business Development Peter Bahraini, as well as Executive VP of Engineering Kris Rupay.
Mahin said: “We want to help aviation get back on its feet as quickly as possible, and for that to happen we must work globally. A global problem requires a global solution and we’re thrilled that, together with Ethiopian Airlines, we can bring thorough, efficient, and safe pathogen-killing technology to this region.”
Designed for the transportation industry, Ray is a compact and lightweight autonomous robot that uses motion-sensing technology to navigate cramped spaces (such as aircraft cabins) and disinfect surfaces quickly, safely, and without the use of harmful chemicals, using UV-C light.
Key Players Tasked FG on Need to Honor Contractual Agreements
KEY players across Nigeria’s aviation sector have called on the federal government to urgently salvage its image regarding the perception that it hardly honors contractual agreements on infrastructure, saying this is the only way to re-energize interest in aviation infrastructure investment in the country.
They equally proposed that before embarking on any aviation infrastructure partnership arrangement, that it was necessary to involve non-government stakeholders in affirming the profile of private capital investment promoters to ensure their competence for execution and genuineness.
The key players also advocated a five-yearly review of infrastructure-related partnership contracts and concession agreements even as they emphasized the need for prompt response to new developments in infrastructure growth without bureaucracies but in compliance with laid down agreements, policies, laws, and regulations.
The stakeholders in a communique issued at the end of a seminar on ‘Financing Aviation Infrastructure Deficit in Nigeria Using Private Capital: Challenges and Prospects’ organized by the Aviation Safety Round table Initiative (ASRTI) in Lagos, agreed that apart from the need to identify key aviation infrastructure that requires urgent intervention, emphasized the need to prioritize them, appropriately, take inventory of areas of aviation infrastructure deficit and respond, using SWOT Analysis
Periodic institutional, legal, and regulatory reforms that would accommodate private capital injection in infrastructure were also suggested the gathering stressed the importance of having a suitable financing model, rather than copying just any model without considering suitability for the country’s make-up.
For private capital financing of aviation infrastructure to yield the desired results, participants said human capital had to be deliberately developed, while localization of training, they said needed to be considered by all stakeholders.
The communique also touched on the need to consider adopting the National Transportation Policy recommended by the 2014 National Conference, which provided for integration of road, rail, air, and water transportation in aviation infrastructure development planning.
ASRTI, the non-governmental body consisting of different aviation professionals was also tasked on the need to set up an advocacy group to encourage commercial banks to develop the willingness to invest in aviation infrastructure with a call for synergy between ASRTI and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to address issues of interest rate and long term investment banking in the aviation industry.
Bi-Courtney to Manage MMA2 for 36 Years — Babalakin
THE lingering confusion over the duration Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL), managers of the private terminal otherwise known as MMA2 located at the local wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, is expected to manage the terminal before returning it to the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), may have finally been clarified.
Addressing the media on the lingering issue, the Chairman of BASL, Dr. Wale Babalakin, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), revealed how the late President Umaru Musa Yar’adua at an intervention meeting he held with all stakeholders in attendance backed 36 years for Bicourtney to manage the terminal on a Public-Private Partnership basis.
According to Babalakin, Yar’Adua at the meeting gave the approval for the 36 years have discovered that the agreement on the period had already been signed by all relevant parties based on the exigencies that cropped up as explained by the concessionaire which subsequently nullified the early 12 years agreement.
The late Yar’adua when told that the 36 years agreed upon was signed by all parties therein, declared in the presence of officials of FAAN including their legal representatives, then Secretary to Government of the federation, former minister of aviation, Babatunde Omotoba, officials of Bi-Courtney and other relevant representatives of the government that the 36 years must prevail.
Babalakin said for the fact that the late Yar’adua gave the approval without objection at the meeting made the 36 years duration binding even as insisted that the minutes of what transpired at the meeting could be called for by anyone still doubting.
Nigerian Tribune cited a copy of the agreement confirming the 36 years approved as the final number of years to manage the project.
The legal luminary, therefore, described anyone flying different documents apart from the one backed by late Yar’Adua as mischievous and should be ignored.
He equally used the opportunity to lament how the controversy the concession agreement had generated had made him lose opportunities to run similar projects in three other countries.
The learned personality explained how he avoided the invitations from the countries on the premise that he might not enjoy the support of the Nigerian government if need be in view of the bad way he was treated.
Though Babalakin declined to mention the countries that had engaged his firm in airport infrastructure development, he however stated that the company had the capability to invest in infrastructure in any part of the world.
He equally expressed the desire to take part in the planned concession of the Lagos, Abuja, Port-Harcourt, and Kano airports under the concession agenda of the Federal Government.
“I think it will be better to consult those who have track records. Before MMA2, nobody talked about terminals but after the completion of MMA2, Bauchi, Dutse now have terminals and I think Anambra State is planning to have one. We have succeeded immensely as an eye-opener to aviation infrastructure development in Nigeria,” he said.
He urged that his company be given the right of the first offer in the bidding because the BASL has shown expertise and has excelled in infrastructure development going by its track record in airports infrastructure provision.
Already, he said the efficiency in the way the terminal was being managed has attracted even airlines that have their operational base at the General Aviation Terminal (GAT), known as domestic airport terminal 1 (MMA1) as they have routed some of their flights from MMA2. Read more
Aviation Sector’s Contribution to GDP Crashes by 50%, Experts Advise FG
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a whopping 50 percent crash in the aviation sector’s contribution to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product, findings by our correspondent have revealed.
Specifically, an analysis of the Gross Domestic Product data published by the National Bureau of Statistics revealed that the contribution of the aviation sector to the economy slumped by 50.09 percent between 2018 and 2021.
The NBS’ GDP report is published every quarter and it shows the performance of each sector in terms of their contribution to the economy.
Aviation, transport, tourism, and hospitality sectors were among the worst-hit industries as the COVID-19 pandemic led to the lockdown of countries as nations shut their borders.
Air travel was almost ground to a halt as airlines parked hundreds of aircraft and laid off thousands of workers.
According to NBS data, the aviation sector’s contribution to the GDP slumped by 50.09 percent from 0.09 percent of the GDP in Q2 2018 to 0.05 percent in Q2 2021.
Its contribution rose by 10.17 percent to 0.1 percent of the GDP in Q2 2019 but dropped by 50.08 percent to 0.05 percent of the GDP in 2020.
As of Q2 2018, Nigeria’s real GDP was N16.58tn and the transport sector contributed N216.35bn, representing 1.3 percent.
According to the NBS, six activities make up the transportation and storage sector: road transport; rail transport and pipelines; water transport; air transport; transport services; and post and courier services.
By Q2 2019, the GDP increased to N16.9tn with the transport sector’s contribution rising to 1.38 percent at a value of N233.71bn. This signified a 5.96 percent year-on-year increase. In Q2 2020, the transport sector’s contribution to the GDP crashed by 46.02 percent to N118.65bn with the real GDP put at N15.90tn.
The Q2 2021 numbers showed that the transport sector’s contribution to the GDP rose to N209.79bn, representing 1.26 percent of the N16.69tn GDP and a 68.37 percent increase YoY.
Overall, the contribution of the transport sector to the total GDP shrunk by 3.70 percent between Q2 2018 and Q2 2021. Also, the sector contributed an average of 1.17 percent between Q2 2018 and Q2 2021.
Of the six activities that make up the transportation and storage sector, the largest contributors on average over the period were road transportation (N168.01bn), air (N12.22bn), and transport services (N10.90bn).
While the aviation sector’s contribution to GDP slumped by 50.09 percent from 0.09 percent of the GDP in Q2 2018 to 0.05 percent in Q2 2021, the transport services saw a 6.41 percent decline from 0.07 percent of the GDP in Q2 2018 to 0.06 percent of the GDP in Q2 2020. Read more
Ex-Alitalia Flight Attendants Strip off Uniforms in Protest
Dozens of former flight attendants from defunct Italian airline Alitalia stripped off their uniforms Wednesday, wearing only undergarments in a silent, choreographed protest in central Rome.
Long financially ailing, Italy’s decades-old airline flew its last flight on October 14. A new airline, ITA, began flying the next day, using some of Alitalia’s aircraft. It also bought the Alitalia brand, but it is taking on fewer than 3000 of Alitalia’s 10,000 employees.
Union officials say those who will work for ITA are being hired at significantly lower pay scales.
Some 50 former flight attendants stood in rows in a square atop Rome’s Capitoline Hill, lowered their company shoulder bags to the cobblestone pavement, then slowly and in synch, removed their overcoats, then uniform jackets, then skirts, then stepped out of their high-heeled shoes.
They remained barefoot, wearing only a slip, in silence for a few minutes. Then they carefully gathered up their garments and shoes and together shouted, “We are Alitalia!”
Union leaders have been pressing for the government to extend unemployment benefits for as long as five years.
ITA Airways unveiled its brand and logo on Friday, recycling the red, white, and green of its Alitalia origins as it tries to chart a new future while competing with low-cost airlines.
ITA, or Italy Air Transport, officially launched after bankrupt flag carrier Alitalia landed its final flights Thursday night, ending a 74-year business history that a series of financial crises had marred in recent years.
ITA paid 90 million euros ($139 million) for the rights to the Alitalia brand and website, but the new airline is called ITA Airways and it has its own website and a new frequent flyer program, called “Volare” (“Fly”).
“Discontinuity doesn’t mean denying the past, but evolving to keep up with the times,” ITA President Alfredo Altavilla said in a statement.
During a conference launching the airline, Altavilla insisted that the greatly reduced size of ITA — its slimmer fleet, workforce, and destinations — make it a viable carrier that can compete with low-cost airlines while offering better service, connections, and value.
“ITA Airways is being born right-sized, in the optimal dimensions both in terms of the size of its fleet and its destinations,” he said. “We don’t carry with us the negative inheritance of being too big that conflicts with the economic reality.” Read more
Sources: Tribune; Punch Nigeria; Daily Independent