Aviation
FG, Airline Operators Lock Horns Over Multiple Entry Points Grant to Foreign Airlines
.AON Threatens Law Suit
.Policy ’ll Generate Revenue- Sirika
Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) has threatened to sue the Federal Government over continued multiple entries granted to foreign airlines into various international airports in the country.
The President of AON, Alhaji Yunusa Abdulmunaf, made this known during its First Quarter Breakfast Business Meeting in Lagos on Thursday.
The event was organised by the Aviation Round Table (ART) with the theme: ‘Economic Implications of Multiple Entry Points by Foreign Airlines Into Nigeria.”
The Minister of Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, had said that although the multiple entries granted to foreign airlines was good for the economy, it was putting pressure on the country’s foreign exchange.
Abdulmunaf said that the body has decided to challenge government in the court of law on the current policy should the multiple entries granted to airlines was not addressed.
The president, represented by Mr Allen Onyema, Vice President of AON, said that the body would in the next few days meet with the aviation minister to deliberate on the issue.
He lamented that billions of naira was being lost annually to multiple designations granted the foreign carriers.
Abdulmunaf warned that if the policy continued unabated, the domestic airlines would die, while the foreign airlines would eventually take over the domestic market.
The AON chief insisted that the multiple designations was one of the greatest disservice to the Nigerian economy and its people.
He said: “All the foreign airlines that come into Nigeria ever yday, the Central Bank Governor cries about the amount of money being repatriated abroad.
“We are talking about the scarcity of foreign exchange in the country, but the foreign airlines are removing billions of dollars every year from this country.
“Whereas, airlines in the country have been hassled with lots of requests on how to repatriate dollars into the system. Where am I going to get it from?
“Yet, we are creating more avenues for these things to happen by giving multiple destinations to these foreign airlines.
“All the foreign airlines that come to this country, may be about 20 or 30 of them have not been able to employ more than 150,000 Nigerians.”
Abdulmunaf noted that Air Peace alone employs over 4,000 people directly, adding that it would take foreign airlines another 60 years to generate 4,000 jobs.
Also, Dr Gabriel Olowo, President of ART, said that foreign airlines were gradually taking over the domestic market with continuous approvals for multiple entries.
“The damages of multiple entries into Nigeria is huge. Britain for instance has 21 flights into Nigeria weekly.
“European Unions have 43 frequencies every week into Nigeria. Also the Middle East has 56 flights weekly into multiple entries into Nigeria.”
Olowo noted that, as things are today, the country had zero participation in the international sector as an industry and the domestic sector was eroded through multiple entries into Nigeria.
Meanwhile the Federal Government has defended the multiple entry points it granted to foreign airlines, saying it will generate revenue for the country.
The Minister of Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, made this known on Thursday during the 1st Quarter Aviation Safety Roundtable Initiative (ASRTI) Business Breakfast Meeting in Lagos.
Sirika, represented by Group Capt. John Ojikutu, the Chief Executive Officer, Centurion Aviation Security and Safety Consult, said these entries will help domestic airlines to improve their distribution and connection opportunities.
According to him, the granting of multiple entry points to foreign airlines into the country has been an issue of contention in the industry.
The minister noted that granting of multiple designations also opens up prospects to domestic airlines, adding that it also improves their market by distributing passengers for connection.
“Multiple entry points are granted to foreign airlines based on the nature of their Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreements (BASAs).
“This will expands the business and grow the economy of foreign airlines. The idea was to generate revenue for the country.
“Foreign airlines are able to land at different airports connecting different area of the country to foreign countries, thereby promoting commercial trade, tourism and friendly relations,” he said.
Sirika reeled out some obvious disadvantages of the move but still said there were things to gain.
The minister, however, noted that granting of entry into more than two airports could expose foreign airlines to domestic routes.
He said it would therefore affect the domestic markets of the domestic airlines and this had its negative implications.
According to him, multiple entry is also against the Carbotage Act, which does not allow the airlines to generate much needed revenue that will help in their growth.
The minister said domestic airlines stand to gain from opportunities created by International airlines distributing passengers for connection with these airlines.
Nevertheless, there are prospects for domestic airlines as they have opportunities for improved domestic markets by distributing International passengers for connection with these airlines.
“The grant of entry points to foreign airlines should also be such that they are given multiple entries, to either Lagos or Abuja and not Lagos and Abuja.
“This is in addition to any other airports outside the geographical area of the first choice of Lagos and Abuja, e.g Port Harcourt, Kano and Enugu.
“In this way, they do not take over all the businesses on all the International Airports,” he said. (NAN)
By Ubong Ukpong, Abuja
The House of Representatives on Wednesday, expressed deep anger over faulty air crafts in the Presidential air fleet, just as it summoned the National Security Adviser, (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, for investigation.
The House in plenary, during a heated debate on the motion, reiterated that billions of naira was budgeted to maintain the presidential Air Fleet.
The motion, which was moved by Hon Satomi Ahmed was followed by a heated debate by members who were divided over the issue.
Recall that the Vice President Kashim Shettima was on Sunday forced to cancel his trip to the United States where he was scheduled to represent President Bola Tinubu at the 2024 US-Africa Business Summit, due to a fault with his aircraft.
Moving a motion of urgent public importance, Satomi who is Chairman House Committee on National Security and Intelligence, and represents Jere Federal Constituency, Borno State, noted that in April, President Bola Tinubu was embarrassingly, forced to fly in a chartered plane from Netherlands to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to attend the World Economic Forum.
He noted that Vice President Kashim Shettima similarly used a chartered jet recently as presidential jets were undergoing repairs.
He expressed love for the President and Vice president insisting that such incident was a national embarrassment despite billions of naira budgeted yearly to maintain the air fleets.
In his contribution, member representing Balanga/Billiri Federal Constituency, Gombe State, Ali Isah while supporting the call for investigation of the state of the presidential aircrafts, said the development should offer President Tinubu opportunity to travel by road to enable him understand the state of road infrastructure across the country.
He said, “I think this will afford our President and other leaders the opportunity to travel by road and appreciate the state of our roads.
“This happens all the time in some countries of the world.”
However the proposal did not sit well with Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu who presided over Wednesday’s plenary.
“Are you saying Mr President, the number one leader should travel around by road?,” he asked rhetorically amid support from All Progressives Congress lawmakers.
Supporting Isah’s position, the Minority Leader of the House, Kingsley Chinda argued that “In Britain, the Prime Minister flies British Airways. I don’t see anything wrong with a public officer using commercial transportation.”
Chinda also said that bringing the motion to the floor of the House was not necessary as it is the duty of the relevant committee to go ahead with the investigation without necessarily bringing it on the floor of the House .
Chinda further advocated the resuscitation of a national career as a way out of the embarrassment.
The Deputy Speaker however, said it was indeed not necessary to bring the motion before the whole House as it was within the duty of the relevant committee to investigate the incidence of it deems it fit he therefore called that the motion be stepped down
By Idris Umar Feta Abuja
Many air travellers were left stranded following the closure of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, by officials of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on Thursday.
A combined team of NLC and Trade Union Congress (TUC) blocked both the entry and exit ways of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport.
The protest was part of the series of actions that the two labour unions say they would zero in on Imo, following the attack on the NLC president, Joe Ajaero.
The NLC and TUC had on Tuesday, declared a nationwide strike, which will commence on Tuesday, November 14, due to the face-off with the Imo State Government.
Anambra State Governor, Professor Charles Soludo has renamed the state’s International Passenger and Cargo Airport after the late Chinua Achebe, a novelist, to immortalise him for making an indelible mark on the history of human civilisation.
Achebe a native of Ogidi in Idemili North Local Government Area of the state, died on March 21, 2013, at age 82, in Boston, Massachusetts.
Soludo said this on Sunday in Awka at the Independence Day parade, to mark Nigeria’s 63rd anniversary, describing Achebe as an example of Africa’s unsung hero.
“Achebe, a Nigerian novelist, poet, and critic, gave the African literature an identity and a voice and he rightly reconstructed and refined the identify of the people,” he said.
The governor said that Achebe was not just an Anambra hero nor a Nigerian hero, but an African and global hero and yet largely unsung at home.
He said that henceforth, the state shall be deliberate in fishing out and celebrating its largely unsung heroes as motivation to children and youths.
“Unfortunately, some people wrongly think of legacies in terms of brick and mortar. Legacy is about impact on human life and human civilisation.
“Achebe was not a president or governor or military. He did not build bridges or roads or airports but he will outlive most presidents, governors and ministers in our minds.
“Achebe rejected Nigeria’s national honours twice in protest against what he perceived as injustice to his home state Anambra. Today, Anambra will finally honour him.
“After wide consultations, there is a broad consensus that no one is more deserving to be named after the first airport in Anambra than Anambra’s all-time greatest literary gift to the world, Chinua Achebe.
“Consequently, we will rename the Anambra International Cargo and Passenger Airport, Umueri, to Chinua Achebe International Airport, Umueri.
“Yes, it has to be an international airport, and we hope to work with the Federal Government to give full effect to its international status,” he said.
Soludo urged Nigerians to be intentional about making the project Nigeria work and believe in the potential greatness of the country.
“We have muddled through the past 63 years with squandered opportunities and yet with the promise of potential greatness
“No country or nation is a perfect. Every nation continues to struggle in its match to a more perfect union. The path to stability, growth and sustainability will be challenging as there are no quick fixes.
“But all of us must collectively think and work Nigeria out of the current challenges. We have no other country but Nigeria, and we must make it to work for everyone, “he said.
The governor said his administration was founded on the true progressive agenda and would continue to create the enabling environment for residents to thrive and survive.
The police, paramilitary organisations and students from different schools took part in the parade. (NAN)
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