BusinessDay 21 Sep 2017

C002D5556
22 BUSINESS DAY
Thursday 21 September 2017
BUSINESSTRAVEL
Domestic airlines brace up for
international operations
…acquire aircraft, get IATA membership
Stories by IFEOMA OKEKE
Domestic airlines
operating in Nigeria
are gradually
bracing up
to commence
and expand international
operations with acquisition
of new aircraft and admission
of the carriers into the
International Air Transport
Association (IATA).
BusinessDay’s checks
show that the airlines are beginning
to acquire more aircraft,
join IATA membership,
get international certifications
and subject themselves to
frequent audit and checks by
international aviation organisations
to enable them fly into
Middle East, European and
African countries.
Last week, Dana air and
Air Peace were admitted as
a member of the International
Air Transport Association
(IATA). These airlines
achieved the feat few months
after securing their IATA Operational
Safety Audit (IOSA)
certificate. Two weeks back,
Medview acquired a Boeing
777 for its London operations.
Allen Onyema, Chairman
of Air Peace Airline said its
admission into the global air
transport body was a heartwarming
development, coming
at a time it was deepening
the quality of its flight services
and expanding its operations
to seamlessly connect more local,
regional and international
destinations.
“We should have by now
started our foreign operations
but for some kind of hindrances
that have to do with policy.
We are ready to touch the
whole world but we need the
support of government and
people of Nigeria. The Boeing
777 aircraft we bought have
to be type certificated by the
Nigerian Civil
Aviation Authority (NCAA),
because before now, no Nigerian
airline has operated the
aircraft type.
“That is why we are waiting
on Boeing and the Nigerian
government, as represented
by the NCAA to come together
and type certificate Nigeria on
the aircraft type. It is after that,
NCAA will be able to carry
out oversight function on the
aircraft.
“We have facilitated the
training of NCAA pilots and
engineers on the aircraft. That
is why the aircraft are not
yet in Nigeria and it costs Air
Peace hugely to maintain them
where they are outside the
country. After the type certification
we can now bring in
these beautiful birds into the
country,” Onyema said.
He said the airline will
save Nigeria a lot of money
when it begins to operate
international destinations,
adding that Nigeria needs
more domestic airlines to
operate international.
He disclosed that Air Peace
has received approval from
one of the countries it wished
to fly to, but will commence
operations yet or announce
it until the airline gets type
certificated.
Obi Mbanuzuo, the accountable
Manager of Dana
Air, while responding to the
airline’s latest achievement
said, “becoming a member
of IATA is a significant
milestone for us at Dana Air
and this only demonstrates
our level of professionalism
and commitment to operational
efficiency in terms of
providing our guests with
safe, seamless and worldclass
air transport service
in Nigeria.
“Apart from the fact that
this membership will further
strengthen our relationship
with other international airlines,
we see it as an opportunity
to take our amazing
products to the global stage
through interline and codeshare
agreements.
“You would recall that
Dana Air is the first and only
Nigerian airline to have undergone
an operational audit
conducted by the Nigerian
Civil Aviation Authority and
its foreign partners – The Flight
Safety Group, and we are determined
to reinforce our strategic
route network within and
beyond Nigeria,’’ Mbanuzuo
said.
The fierce competition in
the highly priced Lagos-London
route, where international
carriers like British Airways
and Virgin Atlantic make their
kill with outrageous fares may
have ebbed as the domestic
carrier; Medview, joins the fray
with state of the art aircraft and
excellent service.
The new aircraft introduced
by the domestic carrier has
in-house entertainment that
may rate as the best on the
route with well-groomed cabin
crew, unbeatable cuisine with
a touch of local foods and flat
beds in business class.
BusinessDay’s checks
show that Medview airline
return economy class ticket
on the Lagos-London route,
cost N333,000, while a British
Airways airline return economy
class ticket on the Lagos-
London route cost almost
N1.5million, almost four times
the amount Medview is cur-
rently charging.
Lookman Animashaun,
the Airline’s Chief Operating
Officer said in a bid to satisfy
its customers, the airline deployed
this aircraft to London
route.
“The aircraft was brought in
from Portugal. It has the best
state-of-the-arts facilities. This
is the best aircraft for them to
use. This aircraft will be used
to ply the London route for
two years. Passengers’ reactions
towards this new aircraft
have been amazing. They love
it so much and have expressed
their feeling,” Animashaun
said.
He noted that last year’s
patronage was great for the
airline and it hopes to sustain
the patronage, especially with
the new aircraft.
“Our operations on the
London route have been
able to checkmate airfares
for competing carriers on the
London route. I learnt about
few weeks back that British
Airways brought down their
airfares to below 600dollars
which has never happened
and this is because Medview
has been able to standardise
the fares,” he disclosed.
He further revealed that
on November, 8th, the airline
plans to commence Dubai
route, and they are also planning
to commence Johannesburg
towards first quarter
of next year.
Air Peace secures IATA membership,
assures of service delivery
Air Peace’s expansion
drive has received
a big boost with the
admission of the
carrier as a member of the
International Air Transport
Association (IATA). The airline
achieved the feat only a
few months after securing its
IATA Operational Safety Audit
(IOSA) certificate.
In a letter dated July 21,
2017, Alexandre de Juniac,
the director general/chief executive
officer of IATA, said the
organisation was pleased to
have Air Peace as its member.
The IATA boss assured Al-
len Onyema, Air Peace Chairman/Chief
Executive Officer,
that the global aviation body
was focussed on creating the
right atmosphere for safe air
services.
“Our vision”, Juniac said, “is
to be the force for value creation
and innovation driving
a safe, secure and profitable air
transport industry that sustainably
connects and enriches
our world.”
For its part, Air Peace said
its admission into the global
air transport body was a heartwarming
development, coming
at a time it was deepening
the quality of its flight services
and expanding its operations
to seamlessly connect more
local, regional and international
destinations.
The carrier assured that its
membership of IATA would
broaden its space to continue
to deliver exceptional flight
services in Nigeria, energise its
drive to connect more countries
in the West Coast of Africa
and aid the launch of its flight
operations to London, Atlanta,
Dubai, Guangzhou-China,
Mumbai and Johannesburg.
“It greatly delights us to be
part of the reputable International
Air Transport Association.
As an airline irrevocably
committed to excellent customer
service and safe flight
operations, we are ready and
willing to exploit all the opportunities
provided by our
membership of IATA to deliver
the best flight experience to
our numerous guests”, Chris
Iwarah said in a statement
signed by Air Peace Corporate
Communications Manager.
AIB partners ICAO, NTSB on accident
investigation training
Capacity building
in the aviation industry
has received
a boost as Nigeria’s
Accident Investigation
Bureau (AIB) partners the
International Civil Aviation
Organization (ICAO) and
the National Transportation
Safety Board (NTSB) of the
United States of America for
one-week training in accident/incident
investigation,
for the benefit of the entire
West African sub region.
The workshop to be facilitated
by the two international
organizations, seeks
to deepen the knowledge,
and sharpen the skills of
the participants drawn from
AIB, Nigerian Civil Aviation
Authority (NCAA), domestic
airlines and members of the
Banjul Accord Group Accident
Investigation Agency
(BAGAIA).
Tagged ICAO Accident/
Incident Investigation Workshop
will be held in Lagos
from September 25, 2017. The
training would navigate the
participants through various
aspects of accident investigation
including Annex 13 guidance
materials; investigating
organizational factors and
human performance; records
investigation; investigating
rotorcraft accidents and incidents;
on-site investigation
and flight recorders.
The training will also cover
fire investigation, managing
large scale accident and
incident investigation, emergency
response and record
investigation among others.
The facilitators include
the Dennis Jones, managing
director of NTSB, who for
many years was the NTSB
representative in Africa and
Andre de Kock from ICAO.
Akin Olateru, the Commissioner
of AIB, said, “We
are very pleased to be partnering
with ICAO and NTSB
on this important training.
We value the cooperation and
technical assistance we have
been receiving from these
organizations, which would
greatly complement our efforts
to make AIB formidable.
Capacity development,
infrastructural improvement,
system and process
re-engineering remain our
focus in making sure that AIB
contributes meaningfully to
aviation safety for the common
good of all.”
Speaking on the necessity
of the OJT, Olateru said
“capacity building is so vital
to AIB’s job functions. This
guarantees that all reports
and safety recommendations
issued out by AIB is hoisted
on the certainty that they do
not miss out any vital subject
matter in their investigations
that impacts safety. Consequently,
practical hands-on
training which is what an OJT
is all about cannot be ‘one
too many’, when it comes to
training.