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Passengers and stakeholders eagerly await Nigeria Air's inaugural flight on December 24th. The national carrier was unveiled at the Farborough Air Show in London. According to KELVIN OSA OKUNBOR, the takeoff of the airline is expected to continue on 81 routes on national, regional and intercontinental routes, but the turbulences are numerous, writes KELVIN OSA OKUNBOR
. last week was lifted on occasion in distant London at the Farborough Air Show; a rally for global aviation players to unveil the name and livery; Since the unveiling, torrents of comments have enveloped the global arena as a result of the government's decision to float a domestic carrier, 15 years after the liquidation of Nigeria. Airways Airways Limited
The new airline, many industry players have warned, must learn traps from the former national carrier which they say is not allowed to stay in business.
The defunct Nigeria Airways Limited Social Service run by government agents to serve the interests of politically exposed people.
In May 2003, the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo announced the liquidation of the airline with more than 6,000 workers and retirees.
Genesis of Nigeria Air
The Emergence of Nigeria Air was the achievement of a 2015 presidential statement by Buhari to deliver a national carrier that will restore the pride of the nation and put the country in an advantageous position to reciprocate the bilateral air services agreement whose country is a signatory.
To carry out this noble project, committees have been set up and the deadline for the coup de send has been fixed. A few months ago, a working group chaired by the Director General of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Capt Fola Akinkuotu, was appointed
: Muhammad Usman, Chief Executive Officer of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nigeria. ; Captain Abdulsalami Mohammed, Rector of the Nigerian College of Aeronautical Technology; Commissioner of the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB), Akin Olateru; The representative of the National Carrier Transaction, Captain Tilmann Gabriel; Operations Advisor for MRO and representative of the airline rental company Layi Are; Chidi Izuwah, Acting Director General of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC)
On 9 July, the Federal Government received the certificate of compliance of the ICRC Certificate of Compliance
(OBC). consortium of transaction consultants, including Airline Management Group Ltd., Avia Solutions Ltd. and Tianerro FZE. They were appointed in March by the government
. Having received the ICRC OBC certificate, the State Minister for Aviation, Hadi Sirika, assured that the process of acquiring the national carrier was detailed and transparent. He said the new airline will enter service on December 19, 2018 with five aircraft, to gradually increase its capacity to 30 aircraft within five years.
The OBC recommended the injection of $ 8.8 million by the government into financing viability deficits and the initial subsidy required private sector investments. He also said the operators of the national carrier would ensure the sustainability of $ 300 million in three years.
The minister assured that despite the government's $ 8.8 million hijacking fund, decisions by private sector managers.
Sirika said: "The government will intervene to cover the financing of the viability gap, and thereafter it will attenuate." But even with funding from the gap, the government will never get involved in the management of the national carrier.
"All things being equal, on December 19, 2018, we will have the first series of aircraft flying this airline. three years after operations, we will make the investments and follow the business plan through private sector management.
"The national carrier is a bankable enterprise and the government will get a strategic partner to invest in it. we will have completed the bidding process, other facts will appear.
"The new national carrier will not be like the others in the past. We have made it clear in our certificate that the national carrier will have a world-class strategic partner that will manage, operate and direct the management operations. "
Non-involvement of the Government
The extent to which the Government is involved in the proposed airline has been a source of concern for industry players.But Sirika said at the unveiling in London that the airline would be driven by the private sector.
He said: "This will be a national carrier that is led by the private sector and leads. It's a business, not a social service. The government will not be involved in the management or decision of who is leading it. Investors will have full responsibility for this.
"The government will not own more than five per cent of the new national carrier, the government will not participate in its management or the decision of who will lead it."
According to him, the government has begun discussions with aircraft suppliers, including Airbus and Boeing, about the aircraft and promised to report on the negotiations soon.
Necessity of a National Carrier
Some interveners say that the Minister should be more transparent about the identity of potential investors.Their request came in the wake of concerns raised by the former secretary general of AFRAA, Nick Fadugba, about why local operators were not invited to invest in the New carrier.
According to Fadugba, such an offer would be a good window However, other experts believe that the time has come for Nigeria to create a national carrier.
In addition, he provides jobs to many Nigerian pilots, aeronautical engineers, escorts. Said Fadugba in an interview with a national carrier that will limit massive capital theft while foreign carriers will take away billions of dollars. A national carrier, he noted, will gain the respect of the country in the courtesy of the nations, in addition to serving as ambassador for the
It will also improve the training of skilled labor in the aviation industry. For example, after graduating from the Nigerian Institute of Aeronautical Technology (NCAT) in Zaria with a Commercial Pilot License (CPL), a pilot must use one type of aircraft. Usually, the national carrier provides the platform.
State of Weakness of National Carriers
The Establishment A national carrier, according to several, will offer passengers travel options domestic operators have not offered the quality of service that Nigerians deserve.
An aviation finance expert, Ali Magashi, saw the establishment of Nigeria Air as the best decision made by the government. He said that this would not only strengthen Nigeria's sovereign image but would compete with foreign invaders.
Magashi said that only the national carrier could restore the lost image of Nigeria in the stage of global aviation.
The fear of extinction engulfed the operators
Although welcome some local operators have called on the government to create an equal level for them and the new national carrier. They specifically called for equity in the allocation of routes to be followed by the new national carrier and urged the government to clarify the status of Arik Air and Aero, whom they regard as government-managed carriers.
Air Peace President Allen Onyema, the CEO of Topbrass Airlines, Captain Roland Iyayi, and the President of the African Business Aircraft Association (AfBA), Nick Fadugba, were among those who spoke in Lagos last week.
pay the N45 billion of rights of former workers and retirees of the liquidated national carrier.
For them, the national carrier will benefit from their support because it would provide jobs, improve operational capacity and protect the investment of private airlines.
Onyema He stated that domestic carriers are eager to see what will happen to Aboriginal carriers as much as it will create jobs and will be achieved in a transparent manner once it is operated by private companies.
The boss of Air Peace said that the modality of allocation of roads will have to be examined, unless the government indirectly tries to decimate the existing operators.
Explaining that his airline was not afraid On a national carrier, Mr. Onyema stated that there must be a level playing field allowing existing operators to enjoy the same privilege as that accorded to the national carrier.
He said: "The government must do everything possible not to frustrate existing carriers because of private investment." The creation of a level playing field remains essential to the livelihood of a sector of the economy. effective aviation. "
Onyema urged the government to address the operational challenges facing local actors.
In his intervention, Fadugba envisioned a partnership between carriers as a survival recipe in a favorable environment when the operators are strong enough.
He wondered why local carriers have not forged partnerships, which he said, "is the key to success no matter the size of the carrier."
His paper raised concerns about the lack of cooperation in the areas of operations; training;
Suggesting pooling and staff training, Fadugba said the sector still has a long way to go before the government comes with a more comprehensive approach to financing
. a lot of uncertainty about the new national carrier due to the modality adopted for the project; when the government through the Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) already owns Aero and Arik Airlines, involving three airlines under government ownership that has never occurred in any country before . "
Urge the Government to Adopt the Aeronautical Model In Singapore and the United Arab Emirates, he stated that countries had adopted good business-friendly models.
However, he avoided thinking about the non-application of the Open Skies Agreement for Africa
As a successful strategy, it has solicited strong airlines, hub airports and smart facilities to boost aviation development [19659003] Fadugba, drawing on the statistics of the NCAA, described as regrettable about air transport in Nigeria, a development that he noted "has no strategic sense for n & # 39; any serious country about the affairs of aviation. "
on Hub Airports, he
In addition, Iyayi said that the government would do everything for the new national carrier to succeed in ensuring the proper access to markets on
stated that existing policies do not serve the survival of private carriers; who are not protected by the government, despite their huge investments.
Iyayi has been caught in a situation in which local carriers are competing on capacity and not on the roads.
Concerns about the Project
Like Wednesday, when the name of the airline was unveiled, she had no operational office nor staff the country. There was no structure to indicate that a new airline was coming on board.
The minister, who said the airline would be focused on the private sector, did not explain the airline's fairness. He did not say whether the airline would have major investors or technical partners, but that the Qatar Airways government has been talking about the airline since 2016.
At the Farnborough Motor Show on July 16 and 17, Minister had talks with Ethiopia Airlines Director General Tewolde Grebremariam on the partnership agreement
Development fueled the fear of stakeholders that the government still had to find a technical partner for the airline. They expressed concern that only the minister was involved in the discussion with aircraft manufacturers on behalf of an airline that would be driven by the private sector.
According to the president of AfBAA and the former secretary general of AFRAA Fadugba, who is chief of the African aviation services, noted that the government was already the owner de facto of both Aero and Arik through AMCON. He wondered how he would manage these airlines and at the same time establish a new national carrier
The proposed Nigeria Air, he said, should have a synergy with other carriers to better exploit the huge international market .
said: "There are a lot of questions that need to be answered in terms of management, funding and fleet, so I think the government needs to inform the Nigerian people about the national carrier. Abroad, we must come home and explain to the whole nation what the concept is.
"More important, I'm interested in how the national carrier interfaces with all the other airlines in Nigeria. Because remember that the government is the owner de facto of two other airlines: Arik and Aero. So, this is the first time I've seen a government own three airlines. The government must coordinate its airline strategy to move forward.
Stand of the Aviation Union
The aviation unions threatened the new national carrier because of the government's inability to pay the severance pay of former workers of Nigeria Airways. They expressed doubts about the sincerity of the federal government.
Olayinka Abioye, General Secretary of the National Union of Air Transport Workers (NUATE), warned that until the government pays the last package of workers' dismissal According to him, the unions have decided that before the government can float another carrier, the severance pay for former workers must be paid in full, insisting that the government must ensure that the plan does not work.
He also explained that the proposed national carrier had denied the government 's previous position, stating that since the plan' s unveiling, no known investor of any member of the public had ever demonstrated any interest. interest. [19659003] Abioye said, "We are not concerned about this new national carrier, even though it's our baby with supposed benefits to the country.We are much more concerned about the families of the late national carrier, whose some died.
"We are much more concerned about those who are living and succeeding in life and we call on this minister and the government to accelerate in every way possible to ensure that Ms. Kemi Adeosun, Minister of Finance, make releases and pay our people Enough, that's enough. "
Less than six months before the airline launch deadline, there is nothing on the ground that proves that an aircraft from Nigeria Air's fleet would launch its inaugural flight as promised by the minister.
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