COVID Explosion: It’s a Rerun of 2020 as Countries Suspend Air Services With India, Domestic Tourists Stay Home
AN Shyam was looking forward to visiting his hometown Guntur after nearly two years. The tech professional, who is working in the US, had stayed away because of the twin fears of contracting Covid and getting stuck if a lockdown was announced and flights suspended, as happened in March 2020.
His worst fears came true when US carrier United Airlines announced it had temporarily suspended services to Delhi, citing restrictions related to Covid-19.
“How do I meet my mother, wife and two kids now,” wondered Shyam, who was to fly from San Francisco to New Delhi on May 10, and then take a connecting flight to Vijayawada. To his relief, the American carrier reversed its decision and said it would resume services from April 25.
Vignesh Nath (name changed) was not so fortunate. He was to fly back to Toronto from Mumbai on May 14. But on April 23, Canada joined a list of countries suspending air services to India. The North American country has imposed the restriction for 30 days. Read more
Emirates Airline, Dubai Health Authority Launch Full Digital Certification of COVID-19 Test Results
Dubai: Emirates airline and Dubai Health Authority (DHA) have started to implement full digital verification of COVID-19 medical records related to testing and vaccination for travelers in the UAE.
Emirates’ passengers who have undertaken a PCR test in Dubai can choose to check-in without presenting their physical COVID-19 PCR test report. Those who have received their COVID-19 vaccination at a DHA health center in Dubai can, together with their COVID-19 PCR test results, have their documents synchronized during flight check-in.
The new streamlined verification procedures will enable secure and faster processing times for customers departing from Dubai International Airport. The information will then be matched-up with the entry requirements of the destination. Read more
Nigeria Loses N23.5bn Yearly To Offshore Aircraft Maintenance
Six years after the Federal Government promised to establish a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility for airlines in the country, the government is yet to fulfill that undertaking with many failed attempts.
This is as Nigerian airlines expend at least N23.5 billion annually on heavy maintenance of their aircraft outside the country.
Investigations by Daily Independent indicated that it costs a minimum of $1 million (about N470 million) to carry out a C-check on aircraft, while such check may go as high as $2 million (N940 million), depending on the scope of work to be carried out on such an aircraft.
So far, no fewer than 50 aircraft are flown by about eight scheduled operators in the country at the moment. Read more
In Search of Enhanced Aviation Regulation – Special Report
The aviation community has been aghast over the drama playing out in Nigeria where operators are questioning the regulator – Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) – over its methodology in the discharge of its statutory functions.
Recently, AZMAN Air and NCAA traded accusations over the suspension of AZMAN’s operations. The airline alleged ill-treatment by the regulator while the regulator said it was impartial in the discharge of its duties.
Citing disregard for safety procedures, the NCAA on March 19, suspended AZMAN ‘s operations and grounded its fleet of Boeing 737 aircraft, to enable it carry out a technical safety and economic audit of the airline.
Among other reasons, the NCAA said the airline had experienced incidents of tyre bursts on landing, a trend that could lead to tragedy.
The NCAA said over a period of about six weeks, Azman Air’s Boeing 737 aircraft operating scheduled passenger flights were involved in three separate incidents, resulting in damage to the aircraft in each case but with no loss of life.
But, the airline alleged that the regulator carried out selective grounding of its operations, insisting that other carriers experienced similar serious incidents but were not sanctioned.
Worried over the trend, the NCAA within two weeks of grounding AZMAN Air carried out an audit of its operations which revealed a series of safety violations. Read more
Why Airlines fail in Nigeria
Some banks believe that aviation is too difficult to invest in, but that is wrong, as it is not different from other sectors.
The Nigerian Aviation sector has witnessed the good, the bad and the ugly. From a sector that could boast of about 40 active domestic airlines, to an ailing sector with only 23 active domestic airlines.
A great number of them either folded up due to operational pressure or were taken over by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) due to illiquidity.
Why Arik Air, Aero, Others Failed or Were Taken Over
Aviation regulator and experts, in separate interviews, told Nairametrics that several airlines could not survive under their owners due to several factors. Some of them are lack of corporate governance, bailout funds, unfriendly business environment, high cost and nature of maintenance among others.
The General Manager, Public Affairs, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Sam Adurogboye, told Nairametrics in an exclusive interview that many of the airlines failed due to lack of corporate governance on the part of their former managers. Read more