Experts in Nigeria’s aviation sector have been reviewing the industry’s performance in 2023.
They want better policies to be put in place to solve the perennial issues bedeviling the industry.
In terms of rating, on the continent, Nigeria is rated low. They say this is because of the long processing hours at the airports with multiple security agencies duplicating functions. Passengers end up spending long hours in queues on arrival.
Many aviation industry players have said that the air transport industry in Nigeria lags in many ways, insisting that Nigeria’s airports are not the best in terms of functionality, aesthetics, and modernity.
High taxes and charges have also been described as another bottleneck that has been a disincentive to investment.
Two aviation experts were guests on News Central TV’s Breakfast Central on Friday. They are Tony Ukachukwu, the CEO of Aviators Africa, and Olu Ohunayo an aviation policy expert.
They said for Nigeria to be competitive in air transport on the continent, it has to be more competitive and introduce policies that will provide a better enabling environment for the players to strive.
Tony Ukachukwu questioned the high charges and trapped foreign airlines’ revenues that had stained the image of the country.
Even the International Air Transport Association (IATA) at different events in Africa said that trapped airline revenue in Nigeria is the highest in the continent and possibly the world.
IATA called for the payment of the trapped funds by Nigeria during the 55th Annual General Assembly and Summit of the African Airlines Association (AFRAA) in Kampala, Uganda, where IATA also noted that Lagos (LOS) and Abuja (ABV) have earned the unenviable title of the world’s most expensive airports.
The global aviation safety regulator was frustrated with these trapped funds and many in the industry believe that it is not lack of money that made the Nigerian government not pay the trapped funds, but lack of priority. IATA said it is no longer disposed to mediate between Nigeria and the airlines. It warned that some international carriers may stop operating in Nigeria but Olu Ohunaya says he does not believe that this last scenario will happen.
A national/flag carrier is owned by a government and it enjoys preferential rights or privileges accorded by the government for international operations.
Experts say the aviation industry in Nigeria should be contributing about 40% of its GDP but hardly contributes up to 5%.
The need for a national carrier in the country cannot be overemphasized; says Ukachukwu. He however noted the poor implementation of the past efforts at setting up a national carrier.
Mr Ohunaya noted that attempts to set up a national carrier have been failures and replete with scams. He advised the government to concentrate on providing the enabling environment for Nigerian private airlines to thrive.
In October, Nigeria’s Aviation Minister, Festus Keyamo said that domestic airlines will soon be compelled to compensate passengers for incessant delays and cancellations of flights.
The minister disclosed this while speaking on flight disruption challenges during a meeting with the officials of Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) in Abuja.
Mr Keyamo said the regulators will begin to implement the provision of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) Act that mandates airlines to compensate passengers for delays/cancellations of flight schedules caused by the airlines.
Aviation expert Ohunayo agreed this would be a step in the right direction. He noted that the laws are already in place and only the regulatory agency can implement and carry out the sanctions, not the minister.