September 27, (THEWILL) -The Chairman of Air Peace, Barrister Allen Onyema, has explained the causes of frequent flight delays and cancellations, which according to him, are major products of poor airport infrastructure.
The airline operator also pointed out that a high percentage of causes of airline failures in Nigeria are related to government policies and that appropriate legislation will help Nigeria’s domestic airlines to succeed.
Onyema gave the insight on Tuesday, at a Webinar, with the theme, “Repositioning The Aviation Sector In Nigeria For Revenue Generation & Growth: Role of Legislation”, which was organised by Olisa Agbakoba Legal (OAL).
At the webinar, Onyema said he had been invited several times along with other operators to the National Assembly to explain the causes of frequent flight delays and cancellations which are major products of poor airport infrastructure.
He said, “The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) must be allowed to retain its generated funds to be able to maintain the airports.”
According to him, you cannot create a hub without adequate infrastructure, adding that legislation should provide necessary funding for infrastructure.
On high-interest loans, Onyema said airlines in other climes secure loans at a 3% interest rate while Nigerian airlines borrow at a 26% interest rate.
Advising that legislation should come in to change this, he said that most transactions in the aviation business are dollar-based and that even when an operator has Naira, he goes about looking for Dollars.
Other areas requiring legislation, according to Onyema, include insurance premiums payment, multiple routes designation to foreign airlines and preferential treatment given to them above local airlines.
He said there has been much emphasis on the trapped funds with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) belonging to foreign airlines whereas domestic airlines like Air Peace have N14 million dollars trapped in Nigerian banks.
Questioning the preferential treatment accorded foreign airlines, he said most of them offer jobs to less than 100 Nigerians while some local airlines have 1,000 staff.
“There are entrenched bureaucratic bottlenecks that only legislation can change”, he asserted, citing the imbalance in the implementation of Bilateral Air Services Agreements (BASAs).
Onyema also decried a situation where securing land on lease from FAAN for hangar construction at the airport requires payment of 7% of the airline’s gross earnings.
About the Author
Anthony Awunor, is a business correspondent who holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Linguistics (UNILAG). He is also an alumnus of the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria Kaduna State. He lives in Lagos.
