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Automation: FG threatens sanctions against errant airlines

By BusinessNews Staff on March 14, 2015

The Aviation Revenue Automation Project (ARAP), a committee set up by the Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka, has recommended that international and domestic airline operators that fail to meet the automation guideline would be sanctioned.

The committee also recommended that heads of aviation parastatals be held accountable for ensuring that all revenue line in their agencies are captured under the ARAP platform.

Chidoka, who received the report of the committee on Monday in Lagos, said that the full automation of revenue collection in all the agencies was the way to go.

He said the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) as the regulatory agency in the sector, was in the position to impose appropriate sanctions against airlines that fail to meet the automation deadline when it is fully implemented.

Chidoka noted that despite the delays being experienced at the airports, the sector has made some significant progress, adding, “when we are talking about commitment, about performance measurement, about monitoring, it is beginning to bear dividend.”

“Any failure of capturing any revenue line in the automation the chief executives will be held accountable for that and you must make sure that they understand clearly the one that are not yet on and the timeline to bring them on.
“The domestic and international airlines that do not meet the automation guideline within a stipulated timeframe, I believe that the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) is in a good position to immediately sanction those who are not in tune with it. So it is good that you continue to engage them, provide them with information, timeline and insist that those timelines must be met, failure to meet them they should go back to the rule books and see what sanctions can be meted out to them,” the Minister said.

He said the ministry would no longer tolerate the situation where people are collecting cash payment at the feet of aircraft before boarding, adding that a Point Of Sale (POS) machine should be provide at the airport for air travellers to be able to make cashless transaction.

“Also I talked about cashless aviation, we don’t want people collecting cash at the feet of private aircraft, people must have POS, they must have debit cards and you must collect the money from them. We don’t want cash and I want to know how many days it will take us to see that the POS is activated and there is a place where people can easily top up their card in case they land and they don’t have enough money on their card, they need to top up their card and then come and pay. I believe we can do that as an immediate thing.”

Chidoka further directed the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, (FAAN), NCAA, Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB), Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMET), and the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT) to immediately setup a project management office in their various agencies as recommended by the committee in the next seven days.

Speaking on behalf of the agencies, the acting Director of Commercial and Business Development, FAAN, Mr. Taya Adewaku said the agencies have identified functional requirements for the project and are committed to the successful implementation of the ARAP.

“We recognise that this automation project is very much needed in the cash up game our airport and aviation in Nigeria need to conform to international best practices,” Adewaku said.

[ThisDay]

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