Aviationages

No Preferred Bidder Yet- FG 'Capt. Olumide A Competent Hand To Run An Airline'   The Managing Director of Belujane Konsult, Mr. Chris Aligbe said there was no time when he said Qatar Airways is the preferred bidder because the process is still ongoing.   “All I said was that I preferred a legacy carrier and I never mentioned Qatar Airways because the process is ongoing and this kind of report is not good for the integrity and transparency of the process. I gave analysis that Qatar Airways, Ethiopian Airlines and Turkish were interested”   “Also, I am not one of the driver of National Carrier. How can I be one of the drivers? I am only a supporter and I have been supporting it since Captain Mohammed Joji through International Finance Corporation (IFC) IN 2001, 2002, during Stella Oduah as minister and up till this time. I have been just a supporter. I do not have employment with the ministry of Aviation and I don’t consult for the minister n this.”   In a swift respon...

By Ariyo Akinfenwa Recently, the National Assembly (Senate and House of Representatives) of the country passed a bill approving the upgrade of the act establishing the Accident Investigation Bureau of Nigeria (AIB-N), an agency in charge of only aircraft accidents and incidents investigation and prevention; which is awaiting the assent of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari.   The repealed act has expanded the scope of the AIB-N to metamorphosed into Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB which will include Maritime and Rail sectors, leaving the Road sector out is a concern, especially with the knowledge that all transport sectors (Air, Maritime, Rail and Road) were meant to be in the new multi-modal agency at proposal stage.   The Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer of AIB-N, Engr. Akin Olateru reeling out the relevance of the new agency to all transport said: “The NSIB would reinforce s...

The management of Dana Air has elaborately explained and apologised for shortcomings on service delivery recently. The Deputy Chief Executive Office (DCEO) of the airline, Mr. Sukhjinder Mann on behalf of the management conveyed apologies to passengers especially those affected on March 1.   “I accept that our recent disruptions due ramp congestion, bad weather, and most recently, scarcity of fuel would have affected your plans and I understand how frustrating it would have been for you to contact our customer service representative to reschedule your flight or having to wait in some instances, but I would like to reassure you that all your feedback has not gone unnoticed regardless of how you sent them,” said Mann.   Detailed explanation on what the airline is facing presently and what they are doing to ameliorate the situation Mann said: “On fuel scarcity, we are working with our partners to significantly mitigate the challenge and I am pleased to advise that we ha...

The realisation of projects for Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika have always been tough nuts to crack. A case in mind was the rehabilitation of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja  between March 8 to April 19, 2017. The minister in the heat of doubts by aviation stakeholders, engineers, international and domestic airlines poked to put his job on the line and he threatened to resign his position as the Minister if the project is not delivered on record time..    Concerning Nigeria Air, Sirika is not putting his job on the line, maybe he is used to pessimism and cynicism which the environment is throwing at federal ideas and projects. The people are not to be blamed really, because governments have failed to earn the trust of the citizenry by not providing the basics of amenities despite promises; hence doubts on bigger projects such as setting up a national airline.   Despite pressure and criticisms from the launch of the Nigeria ...

  Nigeria’s Xejet Aviation has taken delivery of an Embraer ERJ145 recently from ACIA Aero Leasing (“ACIA”), a leading provider of regional aircraft leasing and lease management services. ACIA made the announcement of the delivery of ‘a single Embraer ERJ145 on lease to Xejet Aviation (“Xejet”), a fast-growing, start-up airline based in Lagos, Nigeria.’ The aircraft, ACIA Aero said is to support Business Class Only carrier’s vision to be Nigeria’s go-to airline for smart and cost-effective premium air travel     The airline recently received its Air Operator Certificate (AOC) from the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to commence premium services soon. The aircraft with registration number 5N-BZN has since arrived the Murtala Muhammed Airport Lagos.   The regional jet, configured with 50 seats in a single-class layout, was delivered joining the carrier’s fleet that currently consis...

The International Civil aviation Organisation(ICAO) said the leadership headed by the ICAO Council President,   Salvatore Sciacchitano  and the Secretary General,   Juan Carlos Salazar, was briefed on the Ukrainian airspace status in the midst of ongoing military fracas between Russia and Ukraine at its headquarters in Montreal, Canada yesterday.   “ICAO Council President Salvatore Sciacchitano, together with ICAO Secretary General Juan Carlos Salazar, met yesterday with Ukraine’s First Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, Emine Dzhaparova, and other senior officials,” said ICAO Headquaters. “ICAO’s leadership was informed during the meeting on the operational status of Ukrainian airspace and noted the information provided.”   The relationship of Russia and Ukraine is strain and currently the airspace of both countries are not in good shape in terms of safety of civil aviation activities.

Dana Air has disclosed its strategic partnership with Travelstart, Africa's largest online travel agency, on seamless booking and exciting deals to provide customers with smart fares as soon as the ongoing systems integration is concluded. The disclosure was made known during a courtesy visit by the Global Chief Operating Officer of Travelstart, Amanpreet Singh from South Africa and the Country Manager Travelstart Nigeria, Bukky Akomolafe to Dana Air recently. Speaking during the courtesy visit, the Chief Operating Officer of Travelstart, Amanpreet Singh said, ''Dana Air is a huge player in the Nigerian market and one of our biggest clients. With the continuously growing demand for Dana Air tickets on our platforms, we felt the need to enter into this integration to provide seamless booking options for our customers, which will in turn make it easy for us to also partner on very exciting deals for local air travelers.'' Singh noted that Dana Air has a lot of custome...

Green Africa has secured new investment from Leadway Assurance Company Limited as the airline makes plans to increase fleet size and scale operations in the region.   The airline said since entry-into-service on 12 August 2021,it has connected over 150,000 customers across eight airport stations in Nigeria while delivering on the promise of offering the best air travel fares in the market. This has placed the new carrier among the top three carriers in Nigeria within the short period of commencement of operations.   Babawande Afolabi, Founder & CEO of Green Africa said, “We are delighted to have Leadway onboard this journey with us as an investor. This is especially significant considering the general track record of the aviation industry as a destination for local professional private capital in the country. We look forward to working with Leadway, not only to build Green Africa, but also to positively change the industry narrative for every stakeholder.” Commen...

...Presents 5 Reports On Accidents and Serious Incidents The Accident Investigation Bureau of Nigeria, AIB-N has attributed ‘Fuel exhaustion at low altitude and low speed leading to loss of control in flight’ as the causal factor of the accident involving Quorum Aviation Limited Bell 206B3 Helicopter with registration 5N-BQW which occurred at Opebi, Lagos State on 28th August 2020. The crash recorded three fatalities.   Engr. Akin Olateru, the Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer of the agency during the presentation of four (4) Final Accident and Serious Incident report and one (1) Safety Bulletin said the pilot of the helicopter ought to have landed the aircraft as soon as possible on noticing fuel shortage. “The decision to continue the flight towards the intended destination with insufficient fuel instead of landing as soon as practicable in line with section 12.12 of Quorum Aviation Limited Operations Manual Part A; Lack of effective managemen...

In an all-important step, the International Civil Aviation Organisation, ICAO has announced that in cooperation with the Air Crash Victims' Families' Federation International (ACVFFI), has recognised 20 February as the International Day Commemorating Air Crash Victims and Their Families. The step according the United Nation agency said the decision is in ‘Mindful of the importance of providing proper assistance to victims’ families.’ ICAO has adopted Standards and Recommended Practices for national governments to implement so that timely and comprehensive information, care, and resources are provided to accident victims and their loved ones in post-accident circumstances.   “Respect for victims of civil aviation accidents, and the mental, physical and spiritual well-being of their families, are of paramount importance to ICAO, and with the help of the insights and appeals of the ACVFFI’s committed representatives, the ICAO Council has now helped to assure contin...

... Need To Accelerate Removal Of Travel Restrictions- IATA CEO The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released data showing growing momentum in the recovery of air travel as restrictions are lifted. Rise in Ticket Sales (TS) according to IATA is obvious as many countries open their borders with forms of relaxation on restrictions and it has resulted to 11 per cent upsurge in TS.  IATA said percentage increase reported a sharp 11-percentage point increase for international tickets sold in recent weeks (in proportion to 2019 sales). Analysing the ticket sale, IATA said: “ In the period around 8 February (7 day moving average) the number of tickets sold stood at 49% of the same period in 2019;    In the period around 25 January (7 day moving average) the number of tickets sold stood at 38% of the same period in 2019 and; the 11-percentage point improvement between the January and February periods is the fastest such i...

...List 16 ‘Primary And Systemic’ Causes Of Flight Delays And Cancellations    Nigeria’s scheduled domestic air operators under the aegis of  Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON)  are   not pleased with the  Chairman, Senate Committee on Aviation, Senator Smart Adeyemi ’s comment recently, calling it ‘ some uncharitable and unhelpful comment ’  .   Reacting to Sen. Adeyemi’s words d uring a joint oversight visit by the Senate and House of Representatives Committees on Aviation to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) in Lagos recently,  when he said  domestic airlines delay passengers for 4 – 9 hours, adding that; “Should the local carriers fail to sit up, foreign airlines would be invited to operate domestic flights in the country.”   The body through a statement said: “ AON would like to state unequivocally that such comments only serve to aggravate sentiments and send out the wrong message to passengers and the general publi...