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Operators flay slow pace of activities in aviation sector

By BusinessNews Staff on November 2, 2014

For taking no effective action towards moving the industry forwards, four months after his appointment, industry operators, including airline owners have passed vote of no confidence on the Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka, whom they accused of being overwhelmed by the challenges of the sector.
Stakeholders who spoke to THISDAY said the Minister is yet to take concrete action towards moving the sector forward through policies and actions.
Pointing out problems besetting the industry, they said, four months after his appointment, Chidoka has not taken decisive action to complete the airport rehabilitation projects; neither has he made any concrete plan to privatise or concession them. The noted that what have become prevalent in the industry, are conflicting reports and promises.
According to the stakeholders, about two months ago, there was report that the contractors handling the airport remodelling projects would be called to site, but two months after nothing has been done.
“But if the Minister said he wants to concession or privatise them, he should let us know the modalities. If the framework for the privatisation or concession is in the works; he should also let us know. Then if he wants to complete the projects, why is it that nothing is being done?” an industry stakeholder queried.
A senior executive of a major domestic airline told THISDAY that the minister aroused interest about the national carrier, which reports said government intends to establish, but nothing has been heard about the plan since the initial announcement.
About two weeks ago it was announced after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) that government had approved a contract for the supply and installation of a full Jet-Flight simulator (500 Series B737) with complete for the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria at the cost of $21.459 million.
It was also announced that it would be installed at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos to enable students of the college carry out their training locally, instead of going abroad for same and for pilots to also use the facility.
But industry operatives have excoriated the plan saying, details of the project was still cloudy, and that the cost of the equipment was outrageous.
A pilot with one of the domestic airlines said that for such simulator to work it has to be attached to an airline, adding that the simulator can only serve those airlines that operate Boeing 737 aircraft, so what happens to others that operate Airbus, Bombardier and others.
The pilot noted that for the simulator to be effective it has to be used for at least 2000 hours in a year, remarking that no airline rakes up to 1,500 hours in a year, which means that the equipment would be underutilised which would affect its effectiveness and durability.
The CEO of Centurion Securities and the former Commandant of Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, Group Captain John Ojikutu described the cost of the simulator as prohibitive, noting that those that would benefit from the facility are going to be private operators who are unwilling to spend money for training and would invariably owe NCAT for the service rendered to any of the airlines’ crew members.
“Same operators are perpetual debtors to government service providers in the industry and have been enjoying financial intervention from government. The question to ask is, why bring the simulator to Lagos and not NCAT? Why seek the convenience always? On the long run it will end up to be a waste when there would be no money to maintain or sustain its regular operations. For me, this is a venture for private investors, not government,” Ojikutu said.
Ojikutu also noted that the Minister has made pronouncements on his general approach to issues he considered germane to the government transformation agenda, some of which were recent and the public were already critical about.
“They include the establishment of national carrier and just yesterday (last Tuesday) the proposed four airports for some state capitals when over 60 per cent of the existing ones take less than 10 air traffic a day and aside from Lagos and Abuja with millions of international and domestic passengers, no other airport handles up to 0.5 million passengers annually. In fact, about 60 per cent of the airports have less than 0.2 million passengers annually,” he said.
But after his appointment, Chidoka said that he would take time to study the industry before taking actions to improve the sector so that he would not fall into the booby traps and other problems that beset his predecessors.