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A very large percentage of the total income of the aviation sector in Nigeria comes from remittances from international carriers, OKECHUKWU NNODIM explains why this is so
More than 70% Total Revenue Generated The Nigerian airline industry comes from international airlines operating in Nigeria, according to industry operators.
National airlines are also unable to use about 70 percent of Nigeria's rights as stipulated in the Bilateral Air Services Agreement.
The operators told our correspondent that the lack of capacity had prevented Nigerian airlines from taking advantage of their rights in the BASA agreements, adding that the country's aviation sector was largely underutilized when it was acting from bilateral air services with other countries of the world.
It was also established that the limited revenues Native carriers were mainly due to the reluctance of local airlines to make sufficient remittances to the federal government.
It was learned that this had made the gross domestic product of the Nigerian aviation sector less than 1%, Therefore, operators said that to address the poor contribution of GDP, unused bilateral air services and the abysmal remittances of local airlines, it was important that the country ensure the full establishment of its national airline. According to them, the establishment of a national carrier will not only allow the country to benefit from BASA, but also to create jobs and grow GDP through the industry.
The Association of Senior Executives of Transportation Services of Nigeria, Ahmadu Illitrus, told our correspondent that once established, a national airline would help increase the contributions of Nigerian aviation He said: "ATSSSAN has no objections to the national carrier project, given the considerable value it will bring to our industry. When we look at the current state of the aviation industry, we have more than 70%. Of bilateral air services that Nigeria is entitled to set aside. And that's because we do not have the ability among domestic operators to use the rights they are granted on these roads.
"You see foreign airlines entering Nigeria and moving seamlessly, but our domestic airlines are unable to do that – they have no capacity." So, as an industry today, I can badure you that even in terms of revenue generation, 70 to 80 percent of that income comes from foreign carrier operations. "
He added," For the market share that uses the Air transport services in Nigeria, carriers collect this revenue on behalf of government agencies and they do not put it back in. Now you see that we have a problem. "
Illitrus said the Nigerian airline industry was underutilized in terms of reciprocal rights under the BASA agreements, adding that the sector had also seen the disappearance of many local airlines. He said, "The second advantage of the national carrier is that it will provide mbadive jobs to Nigerian engineers and pilots who are walking around without a job. With its operation, it will grow our gross domestic product in the industry, which is about 0.04%.
"So you have an underutilized industry in terms of reciprocal rights in bilateral air services. You have an industry with a very high airline mortality rate that is largely due to the poor governance of private airlines. "
He added:" As I speak to you today, a lot of airlines take in Africa; want Nigeria to have a strong carrier with whom they can collaborate. Ethiopian Airlines, South African Airlines and many others who fly to Nigeria often have an excess of patronage and they want to give these pbadengers to Nigerian carriers. But Nigerian carriers are not going anywhere.
"As we speak, we do not have any operators flying in southern Africa.We have no operators flying to North Africa.We have not no longer a transatlantic operator.Even in Europe; At the moment I am talking to you, no Nigerian carrier is going to Europe.So, let's continue this way? It is a major challenge in this industry. "
A member of Nigeria Airlines and former Secretary, AON, Mohammed Tukur, also stated that the contributions of domestic carriers to the sector were low because many airlines lack capacity
noted that aviation activities had changed and that Aboriginal airlines needed to learn to cooperate if they were to compete effectively with foreign carriers.
Tukur said: "The aviation of today is not what it was 15 years ago because you can not stay alone now It's very difficult for anyone to stay alone now, which is why you see situations where an airline operating six daily flights to Abuja has to go down to about two flights due to the harsh operating climate.
" And this clearly shows that you can not be alone nowadays in this kind of business. So what local operators need to do is that they have to come together and work together and stay in business to not be afraid of the emergence of a national airline. "
Tukur also supported the idea of a national airline, he noted that many local carriers had disappeared from the sector because of poor governance and planning
He said, "Look at Arik Air, for example, when he came on board, there were so many recent aircraft, but at present, about 14 of his aircraft are stationed at different airports because there is no money to serve them.And these are new generation aircraft.
"You bring a jumbo 737-700 or 737 -800 and you use it for local operations, while Ethiopian Airlines uses such planes from Cairo to Abuja or on other international routes. and it generates money while making good use of the plane. And when it's time for Ethiopian Airlines to send its plane to C-Check, you will have to do the same thing. "
He added," But how can you do it when you do not have any currency for it? which is mainly because you operate such a modern generation aircraft on domestic routes. Nigerian airlines therefore need to know the type of aircraft to use and should gather instead of being scared by the idea of a national carrier.
The outgoing president of the National Association of Aviation Pilots and Engineers, Isaac Balami, said: He explained that despite the benefits of a national carrier, the federal government had to prove to local airlines that the emergence of the carrier proposed by Nigeria would not kill indigenous businesses.
He explained that multiple points of entry Nigeria should be reduced, adding that it was counterproductive to the operations of local airlines.
Balami said, "Of course, I also agree that the government must do some things to prove to the indigenous airlines that it is not trying to kill them." One example is that – The government may decide to reduce the multiple destinations it has given to carriers like Ethiopian Airlines, which allows companies to land in places like Lagos, Enugu, Abuja.
carriers are killing our national airlines, they (international carriers) should fly into the country through Abuja or Lagos and allow the national airlines to distribute the pbadengers, and you have given them the opportunity to expand "
He added," Also, if there is a local airline that believes that it can compete with the national carrier, it should be allowed to do that. "There should be a land of If the national carrier buys aviation fuel or Jet-A1 at a given price, domestic carriers should also benefit from the same price.
"So I believe that the emergence of a national carrier should be a win-win development." The government should sit down with local airline operators and discuss how to do it. grow the business for the benefit of all. "
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