Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) have hit back at the Senate for threatening to pass a legislation that would allow foreign airlines to take over domestic routes if flight delays and cancellations persist.
Reacting to the comments made by Senator Smart Adeyemi, during a working visit of the joint Committees on Aviation of the National Assembly to the headquarters of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) in Lagos last week, where he berated domestic airlines for long delays and flight cancellations, the AON said that such comments only serve to aggravate sentiments and send out the wrong message to passengers and the general public.
In a statement signed by AON’s President, Yunusa Abdulmunaf (Azman), Vice President, Allen Onyema (Air Peace) and endorsed by Shehu Wada (Max Air), Dr. Obiora Okonkwo (United Nigeria), Capt. Mfon Udom (Ibom Air), Capt. Roy Ilegbodu (Arik Air), Capt. Abdullahi Mahmood (Aero Contractors), Faisal Abdulmunaf (Azman), Capt. Edward Boyo (Overland), Afolabi Babawande (Green Africa) and Mr. Sukh Mann (Dana Air), the operators described the comments by Adeyemi as ‘uncharitable: and ‘unhelpful’.
The airlines said that in Nigeria, 80 per cent of the causes of delays and cancellations are due to factors that are neither in their control nor caused by them. They mentioned 16 reasons for flight delays, which include changes in weather, inadequate aircraft parking space due to congested aprons, too many sunset airports that operate between 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. only, flight delays due to VIP movements, bird strikes and foreign object damage to aircraft, scarcity and rising cost of aviation fuel that “today costs above N410 in Lagos, N422 in Abuja and Port Harcourt, and N429 in Kano.”
Others are: unavailability of forex for spare parts and maintenance, Customs allegedly delaying clearance of safety critical spare parts, poor air traffic flow, inadequate check-in counters, inadequate screening and exit points at departure, unserviceable baggage claim machines, inadequate and unreliable ground services equipment for boarding and disembarkation of passengers, unruly passengers, lack of runway lights and unforeseen circumstances due to component failures and ground accidents.
The operators said: “AON invites the public to note that if these ‘fixable’ issues were to be solved today by the concerned authorities, the frequent delays passengers experience in the domestic system would immediately reduce by 80 per cent.
“We would, therefore, also like to urge high-profile and respected public office holders to seek information, first, so that they have the insights they need to help solve the solvable problems that hinder the domestic air transport system.”
