nation0428

THE NATION TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015
THE NATION
BUSINESS
15
AVIATION
Agbakoba: Nigeria can save N300b yearly
ACTIVIST lawyer Olisa
Agbakoba (SAN) has
launched a campaign for a
FlyNigeria Law to save the country
N300 billion yearly in capital flight
by foreign operators.
He said under the law there would
be provision for aviation cabotage
to deepen local participation on the
sector.
Many foreign carriers, he said, are
taking advantage of the absence of
such law to repatriate home over
N300 billion through ticket sales.
At a briefing in Lagos, last week,
Agbakoba urged the government to
establish a national carrier to compete
with mega carriers that are
feeding fat on the indigenous market
because of the law’s absence.
He said it was unfortunate that
Nigeria, with its huge potential in
Medview,
FirstBank partner
on online payment
MEDVIEW Airline has signed
an agreement with
FirstBank of Nigeria on the
online payment platform called
MasterCard Internet Gateway Service
(MIGS) where customers with Master/
Visa cards can pay for tickets online.
According to Medview Managing
Director, Alhaji Muneer Bankole, this
is one of the steps to bring its service
closer to clients who desire to buy their
tickets online within the comfort of
their homes or offices.
This payment option, he said, is in
addition to the Interswitch platform
designed mostly for customers with
naira Master cards and the book-onhold
platform where customers could
walk into any bank in Nigeria and pay
for their reservations made online.
To achieve this, Bankole said customer
could make reservation online
and choose the option ‘I want to pay
with Master /Visa card’ when they get
to the payment platform.
He said: “This will automatically
prompt the Master card and Visa Card
logos from where customer can now
click the logo of their desired card for
payments, enter the required card details
and wait for confirmation for payments.
Once this is achieved, ticket will
be automatically sent to the email provided
while making reservation.”
NAHCO, Sokoto
govt strike deal
SOKOTO State Governor- elect
Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal has
pledged to work with the Ni-
gerian Aviation Handling Company
Plc (Nahco Aviance) to ensure the
state’s rapid development .
Tambuwal told visiting directors
of the ground handling company in
Sokoto last week that his administration
would require the firm’s expertise
in every area critical to economic
development.
Nachco Aviance Chairman Mallam
Suleiman Yahyah, who led the directors
on the visit, pledged to help
attract foreign investments to the
state.
NAHCO offered to partner the state
government to develop its potential
in such a way that would make
Sokoto a global force in the areas
where it has comparative advantage.
Yahyah pledged NAHCO’s assistance
in facilitating foreign investors
who will assist the state government
develop its mineral resources,
thereby creating employment for the
youth of the state.
Tambuwal said his administration
was grateful for NAHCO’s offer and
would consult the company to know
the requirements that would lead to
the accelerated development of the
state.
from aviation cabotage
By Kelvin Osa-okubor
aviation, is creating wealth for others.
Agbakoba canvassed a review of
the bilateral and multi-lateral air
agreements to enable Nigeria compete
with developed countries, adding
that in the past few years, his
firm has been campaigning for a
FlyNigeria law, to push the development
of aviation with special regard
for Nigeria’s technical abilities,
capacity and growth.
He said: “We are conscious of the
introduction of aviation cabotage,
which will constitute a positive step
towards stimulating the development
of indigenous capacity and
facilitate the pursuit for deep local
AN airline operator has
criticised the Federal Airports
Authority of Nigeria
(FAAN) for the “high” cost leasing
of land around airports.
Mr Allen Onyema, Chairman of
Air Peace, said the lease is too costly
for “struggling” domestic airlines
which want to build maintenance
hangars.
He said the cost is a disincentive to
domestic operators who want to reduce
the huge costs of taking their
aircraft overseas for major maintenance.
Besides, he said, FAAN has made
it difficult for some operators to get
approval for such facilities, which can
create jobs and improve local capacity
in avionics and aeronautical development.
In an interview with The Nation,
Onyema claimed that FAAN charged
him over N160 million for the lease
of a land to build an hangar at the
Lagos Airport. He wondered where
FAAN expected his company to raise
participation in the aviation sector.
‘’The scope of the bill could be
enlarged to cover legislation on local
content in respect of skills and
service delivery. It will no doubt
add commercial value to Nigerian
domestic airlines, necessitating
infrastructural development and
job creation.
“This has become important because
in other countries such cabotage
law with its attendant regulation
are effectively used to support
local operators.
“The FlyNigeria Bill, we are pursuing
will be modelled after the
United States regulation which requires
that government sponsored
passengers, employees, consultants,
contractors and other persons performing
government financed air
travel fly US flag air carriers.
“We are convinced that this will
work in Nigeria if we empower our
domestic carriers. This would save
the nation over N300 billion annually
taken out by foreign carriers.”
According to Agbakoba, there is
need for a sustainable policy to accelerate
the development of the
aviation sector.
The major challenge of the industry
is the absence of a development
plan, adding that if an Aviation Sector
Action Plan (ASAP) would accelerate
the development of a comprehensive
national aviation policy.
Agbakoba added: “With about 170
million persons and regional economic
potential, over 24 airports,
a growing mass of flying middle
class, Nigeria’s aviation requires
massive revamping in terms of infrastructure,
legal, institutional
and administrative frameworks.
“Beyond physical infrastructures,
which are basically physical,
the requirement is for a soft
institutional framework. These
critical issues underpin the most
important aspects of aviation;
functionality, safety, security, and
profitability.
“It is expected that the incoming
Minister of Aviation will consider
taking up and actualising the intended
legislation. The ASAP can
as well encapsulate various innovations
towards the development
of a comprehensive National Aviation
Policy.”
From left: Managing Director, Skyway Aviation Handling Company Limited (SAHCOL) Mr. Oluropo Owolabi; representstive of International Air
Transport Association (IATA) Mrs. Ewemade Atake and President, Association of Foreign Airlines in Nigeria (AFAN), Mr. Kingsley Nwokoma, at the
end of SAHCOL’s safety week at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja,Lagos.
Airport land lease too costly, says operator
such money.
Onyema said most aviation agencies
were frustrating domestic carriers’
efforts to lease land at airports
nationwide, claiming that the agencies
delay approval they also charge
arbitrary fees.
He said: “The government should
create a conducive atmosphere for
domestic airlines to operate. It is not
about proposal to merge airlines.
The operating costs are too high; we
want lower taxes, charges and elimination
of five per cent ticket sales
charged by the Nigerian Civil Aviation
Authority (NCAA). This is eating
deep into our costs of operations.
It is beyond merger of airlines. Airlines
have the capacity to operate but
they need a conducive environment.”
Onyema went on: “The government
should put in place a policy
that would enable airlines access
single interest rate on bank loans.
“Buhari should address the policies
that affect aviation, the issue of
taxation and the operating environment.
The government must appoint
somebody who has business acumen
to run the sector.
“The minister has done his best,
but we want somebody with business
background, the government
should address the issues of policy,
double taxation and how the airlines
could operate profitably,” Onyema
said.
He continued: “There have been a
lot of talk about the aviation sector
in Nigeria, which is mostly influenced
by lack of knowledge about
the sector by so called experts.
“The bulk of the critics heaps
blames on airline operators as being
the problem of the industry
which is not true.
“What is key in the industry is that
operators are playing their role and
doing their best.
‘’But with the existing structures in
the industry the growth of domestic
airlines cannot be sustained. No domestic
airline will do well if the policies
that stunt growth are sustained.
“The way out is for the government
to design appropriate policies that
would create a conducive operating
environment.
“The operating environment for
domestic carriers in Nigeria is too
harsh. It is not about airlines merger
But the taxes are too many. With this
kind of condition if sustained no airline
will survive.
“If there were good policies in place,
the type that brings about lowering of
airport taxes, and other charges Nigerian
airlines would do well.
“The cost of procuring land from the
airport authority to build aircraft maintenance
hangar is prohibitive.
“If the government wants to support
the growth of airlines, it must put in
place policies that would enable domestic
airlines lease land at lower
rates. The wickedness of government
agencies in frustrating domestic carriers
seeking to get land around the airport
should be looked into,” Onyema
said.