Down, down plunges Nigeria’s aviation sector
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After a long period of crisis, Nigeria’s aviation industry is in danger of total collapse, write ADEOLA BALOGUN, ’NONYE BEN-NWANKWO, BOSEDE OLUSOLA-OBASA and COMFORT OSEGHALE
The ill fated Dana Air plane crash of June 3, 2012 in Iju-Ishaga, Lagos, which killed all the 153 passengers and crew on board has only served to expose the larger rot in Nigeria’s aviation industry.
Today, air travellers in Nigeria are experiencing a torrid time in their bid to get to their destinations. As a result of the widespread rot in the sector, travelling domestically by air has become an expensively painful habit, since passengers, even with their hard-earned money, are left to jostle for the few available seats on the surviving airlines to get to their destinations.
Sometimes, they try for hours without any success. As a result, riotous scenes – which don’t even happen at bus termini – have come to be associated with airports around the country.
Today, many travellers can’t say with certainty that they will be able to reach their destination by air, especially outside the economically and politically viable Lagos-Abuja route.
For example, Niiamarh Amareufo, a Ghanaian and one of the organisers of the Miss ECOWAS beauty pageant, complained about unnecessary delays and failure on the part of the staff of domestic airlines to explain the lateness as well as the high cost of flying Nigerian airlines.
In an interview with VISTA at the local wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos on Tuesday, Amerufo said, “I could connect from Ghana to Aero Contractors. We got here around 10 am in an effort to connect an Arik flight to Port Harcourt and we’re still here. We’re still trying to get our tickets. The most frustrating aspect is that the flights are often delayed and nobody is willing to explain why this is happening. You ask people what happened, but they don’t care.
“Last week, we flew from Port Harcourt to Abuja and our flight to Accra was delayed for more than an hour. Nobody was ready to tell us anything. I don’t want to mention the airline. I don’t know whether it has to do with their years of experience. They don’t care and leave you with the option of accepting your fate or ignoring it. It’s just not fair.
“In terms of cost, I don’t know why some airlines are more expensive than the others. Yesterday when we were coming from Accra to Lagos, we booked Aero Contractors business class for $338, while Arik charged $358. I don’t understand why it is so. But from Lagos to Port Harcourt, they charged the same for business class and I don’t know why it was so.
“About six months ago, the airfare from Ghana to Lagos was around $248 for economy class, while those travelling in business class had to pay between $258 and $270. Now, it’s very expensive and I read in one of the magazines that the airlines are complaining about the high cost of aviation fuel. I don’t know why because I want to believe that since Nigeria has oil, the product should be cheap.”
In spite of the current hike in domestic airfares in Nigeria, many travellers feel they are left with no choice other than adjust to the constant new price regimes being introduced by airlines.
At the local wing of the MMIA on Tuesday, it was business as usual for airline operators. In fact, a member of staff of IRS Airline told VISTA on condition of anonymity that business had improved and the increase in airfares did not affect the daily sales of flight tickets.
“Everyday our planes are filled with passengers. People still fly and no matter what happens, they simply don’t have any choice,” the official said.
To travel economy class a few years ago from Lagos to Abuja, the average traveller was required to pay about N18,000 to obtain a flight ticket. But that era seems to be gone and forgotten. A prospective passenger on that route today will not spend less than N30,000 on a one-way ticket, and this could rise to almost N40,000 at weekends, depending on the direction you are headed.
An Abuja-based lady, Nkechi Agbara, describes her flight from Abuja to Lagos during last weekend as nightmarish.
She says, “I paid N61,980 for a return ticket. The crowd I saw at the airport in Lagos and Abuja was mad. I had to tip somebody an extra N2,000 in both cities to check me in.
“I contemplated going by road, but I was scared after learning that the roads had become very congested. I’m not happy because I had to cough up so much money to travel and for the fact that I would be travelling to Lagos only once or twice in a year instead of five times.”
But Agbara is just one among many Nigerians that are worried about the high cost of air travel in the country.
Laide Thomas, a Lagos-based lawyer, told VISTA that she had paid a ‘ridiculous’ amount of money to travel by air since the “terrible increment,” as she put it.
“I flew Aero Contractors the other day and the amount I was charged was totally ridiculous,” says Thomas. “They said the economy class was filled up and I had to buy business class. It was a crazy trip. Even if I was going to Jamaica, would I have paid that much?
“The service that we get is not commensurate with the money we pay as fare. If we had better alternatives like good roads and good rail system, some of us would not be bothered even if they increasedtheir fare by 100 per cent.”
Another traveller, who introduced himself as Malik, blamed the rising cost of air travel on the high cost of aviation fuel.
“The cost of living in Nigeria has gone up. I also learnt that the Central Bank (of Nigeria) has stopped giving out loans to some companies. This could also be a problem and at the same time, it is not proper to borrow money from the bank and not repay it.
“I paid N34,000 to fly to Kano. You don’t know how I was able to get this money. The situation is unbearable. I even feel that the number of travellers has reduced,” Malik says.
Also, Kehinde Umaru said he parted with N30,000 in exchange for a ticket to fly to Abuja from Lagos.
“It is crazy. But for the fact that I have an interview to attend in Abuja tomorrow, I wouldn’t have bothered. How do we continue like this? Is this not disheartening?
“Nothing has ever gone up and come down in Nigeria. This fare will be static now. If only we can have more airlines, I think it will help a bit. In a country where you have less than four airlines in operation, these people will assume a monopoly of the business and increase their fares at will.
“People cannot even travel by road again. Look at what happened in Lokoja. Flood overtook the city, people travelling to Abuja and even coming from Abuja became stranded and had to find alternate routes. I feel so sad,” he says.
He is not as sad as Charles Nwagbara, the publisher of High Society magazine, who complained bitterly about the situation in the aviation industry.
“I flew IRS from Abuja to Lagos. It was meant to be a 4.45 pm flight. It didn’t take off till 8 pm. You can then imagine when we got to Lagos. It is not only IRS. Other airlines cancel their flights without bothering about their passengers. Now, the fare of a 50-minute flight is now between N32, 000 and N34, 000. This is totally ridiculous,” he says.
Those who have been in the sector for some time are also lamenting the turn of events.
One of them is Capt. Yakubu Okatahi, a senior pilot with Arik Air, who has had over 30 years of flying experience. Before he joined the privately-owned airline, he had worked with the defunct Nigeria Airways after training at the Flying School in Zaria, Kaduna State.
Okatahi has had stints with virtually all the major airlines that have graced the aviation industry in Nigeria. He actually pioneered the local operations of the defunct ADC Airlines, another privately-owned concern that ran into trouble after one of its planes crashed.
Since he witnessed the growth and development of the aviation industry over the past 30 years, Okatahi is deemed to be in a position to comment on the challenges facing the sector.
Having been in the thick of the operations of most airlines in the country, past and present, the soft-spoken pilot, no doubt, has also observed the steady decline of the sector.
When he was contacted for his reaction to this, especially with regard to the fact that only about three airlines are operating domestic flights in the country at present, he could not help but shake his head in disappointment.
“Nigeria has the resources and the knowledge to run an efficient aviation system. God has blessed this country,” Okatahi begins. “In fact, there was a time that the technical know-how of aviation rested with the old Bendel State. At that time, Bendel State had the manpower to run the entire aviation industry in Nigeria.
“As at 1978, Nigeria bought DC10 planes with cash. In 1980 or so, it bought two brand new Boeing 727 planes. Also in 1983, it bought four Airbus 8310 and six Boeing 737 300 series with cash. I am sure you understand what it means to buy all the planes with cash.
“By now, Nigeria should have been in the forefront of the aviation industry in Africa. We were the first African nation that had an all-black crew in the 1970s and 1980s. In those days, whenever we landed in a city like Nairobi and filed out, the people marvelled and stared at us in awe. The entire West Coast used to see us doing something out of this world.
“So, how did the decline in the aviation sector come about? Well, I will say that there was no effective management. If the Federal Government did not dabble so much into the aviation business, we probably would not be where we are today. If the government can buy five per cent into one local airline and leave the rest for the management to run, the story will be different. Because of mismanagement, all the aircraft we had are gone.
“Government interference will not help in any way if we want to revive the aviation sector. See the British Airways, what stake does the British government have in it? Probably one per cent. Yet the government hardly interferes. Or is it Lufthansa? All of them carry their countries’ flags and they are doing very well.”
An industry analyst, Emmanuel Adeogun, urges Nigerians to take another look at the $6.5bn that wealthy Nigerians reportedly spent on private jets in the country, while noting that the financial burden borne by owners of the private jets may have compelled some of them to acquire their own aircraft out of necessity rather than luxury.
Adeogun says, “Because of the nature of their business, some of our rich men may have acquired private jets to move around at a very short notice, a service that is no longer possible with the present airlines.”
Investigations by VISTA show that over the last five years, some of Nigeria’s wealthiest people have spent about $6.5bn on the purchase of new private jets, thereby making the country Africa’s biggest market for private planes.
In a report published recently by The PUNCH, the number of privately-owned aircraft in the country has risen by 650 per cent between 2007 and 2012.
The report said that in 2007, there were a total of 20 private jets in the country. Now, the number has risen to about 150.
Citing documents sourced from various aviation agencies in the country, the report said that over 130 new private planes had been acquired since 2007 at the average cost of $50m per plane. It said that the rich are struck by the luxury syndrome because of the need for privacy, fear of insecurity, and the urgency required to compete in the modern business environment.
The scramble among the rich to acquire private planes over the last decade has been unprecedented. Between March 2010 and March 2011, this class of Nigerians spent about $225m on private jets.
There is an indication that more private jets are on the way, ordered as usual by some of the country’s wealthiest people. While some of the aircraft will be delivered this year, others will arrive between 2013 and 2014.
The increasing expenditure on private aircraft means that Nigeria is currently rivalling China as one of the two fastest growing markets for private jets in the world, and airplane manufacturers across the world are beginning to take notice of this fact.
Investigations by VISTA showed that insecurity, the rot in the aviation business, and the bad – and dangerous – road network in Nigeria might be the other reasons why many businessmen would continue to spend a sizeable percentage of their resources to acquire private airplanes.
However, despite the release of bailout funds meant to save Nigeria’s failing airlines, the fortunes of air travellers in the country are yet to improve.
Instead, the number of commercial airlines dwindled recently, first, from five to four after the ill fated crash of a Dana Air plane on June 3, 2012.
Then early last month, things got worse as the number plunged from four to three when Air Nigeria, the offshoot of Virgin Nigeria (itself the offshoot of Nigeria Airways), suddenly suspended its operations despite being the largest beneficiary of the bailout fund to the tune of N35.5bn.
When VISTA sought the reactions of the various airlines over the ordeal being suffered by air travellers in the country, the Managing Director of Aero Contractors, Capt. Akin George, said the airline had already made an arrangement to take care of the spill-over arising from a reduction in the number of local airlines operating in the country.
George said, “In the next one month, additional 3,000 seats will be added to Aero Contractor’s schedule to reduce problem of insufficient seats. Our customers should also expect better days; our loans are being refinanced by the banks as a result of the bailout fund which we have received. We also expect a reduction of interests on our loans.
“Concerning flight delays, these have been partly caused by the amount of rainfall being experienced all over the country. It has affected our ability to maintain flight schedules.
“When it comes to maintenance, Aero is known for strict adherence; we also undertake third part maintenance as well. Our planes are quite safe; we have gone through over seven audits from different professional organisations in the last two months and have passed every one. We don’t skip on maintenance but ensure we carry it out as stipulated by the manufacturer.”
The spokesperson for Dana Airlines, Mr. Tony Usidamen, however, declined making any comment. He said, “I cannot make any statement at this time because Dana Air is presently undergoing recertification with the NCAA. A statement will be issued when we are through with the process and ready to commence commercial operations.”
Air Nigeria’s spokesman, Mr. Samuel Ogbogboro, was not available for comments as his phone indicated it was switched off.
Efforts to get the reactions of some aviation regulatory agencies proved abortive. Despite promising to respond to the issue, comments from the General Manager, Public Relations, Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, Sam Adurogboye, were not received as at the time of going to the press.
He did not respond to the email sent to him or answer subsequent phone calls to his phone to follow up on an earlier discussion.
On his part, the General Manager, Public Affairs, Federal Aviation Authority of Nigeria, Mr. Akin Olukunle, said that he was not in the capacity to speak on behalf of FAAN because of an ongoing restructuring which may bring another officer into his office.
Source : punchng[dot]com
Chinua Achebe
A PHCN employee at work in Ipaja, Lagos State