… as IATA presents membership certificate to United Nigeria, promises support
The Chairman/CEO, United Nigeria Airlines, Professor Obiora Okonkwo, has said that it is not the number of aircraft an airline has in its fleet that determines a successful operations but its business model.
Obiora said this today after it was presentated with membership certificate by the International Airline Transport Association (IATA).
He was speaking in response to the recent policy by the regulatory body, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) that domestic airlines should have a minimum of six aircraft to carry out flight operations.
He said that the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) is thankful to the NCAA in its safety regulatory oversight but believes that the business model of airlines should be their prerogative.
According to him, an airline’s success is hinged on a balance between its business model and the number of aircraft it operates, not necessarily a particular number of aircraft or a huge number of aircraft.
He pointed out that some airlines have one aircraft feeding the oil and gas sector and are doing well with that because it matches their business models.
He fingered infrastructural deficit as a bane saying that some airports lack basic facilities for conducive flight operations like enough check-in counters and therefore, challenged the federal government to focus on addressing this deficit rather than number of aircraft in a fleet.
Okonkwo also stated that it did not make business sense making the decision of minimum of six aircraft for every indigenous carrier to operate at this time of economic downfall.
He said: “The Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) is very thankful to the NCAA for its regulatory approach, this oversight has been helpful in the area of safety and comfort. But we think that by the time they step out of that safety regulatory issues and the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) implementations and delve into the number of aircraft for the airlines, they are now determining the business model for airlines.
“This should not be their prerogative. You may be surprised to know that some Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) owners who are members of AON and they have only one helicopter servicing the oil industry and they are happy with it. They need the AOC to operate, it’s their business model.
“When you go to other parts of the world, there are people that have two or three copters, servicing one airport to another, they want to remain there, and they are not forced to grow. The issue is that the number of aircraft you have would not determine how fast you get to your destination, it doesn’t solve the problem of delay because if the problem of delay is as a result of VIP movement, if you have 100 aircraft, they will remain on the land.
“The problem of delay is due to weather, you can land into an airport because the Instrument Landing System (ILS) is not calibrated or the necessary equipment are not available, there is nothing you can do. Therefore, we think that as soon as all the relevant bodies are able to provide all the necessary infrastructure and create the right environment, this problem will solve itself.”
”Only two or three per cent of delays are attributable to the operators because every aircraft owners knows that you only make money when the aircraft flies, aircraft on the ground incurs expenses and when it is time for maintenance and lease payment to be paid, nobody asks whether you fly or not, so it pays us to fly. The only way the operators make money is when they sell tickets and it’s only when the ticket is utillised. Even when they come for refund, we don’t make money from that. We are the number one beneficiary if aircraft leaves timely and costumers get to their destinations.
“We know that from practical experience, the solution is not the number of aircraft, do they intend that there should be some of the aircraft waiting to cover some passengers; that does not make any commercial sense. We believe that they should leave people to choose the number of aircraft they want but the minimum they have now which is three is good enough.
”Besides that, the few airlines already operating are facing a great infrastructure deficit, some of the airports even do not have enough parking space for the number of airlines that are coming in. The check-in counters are not enough.
“For manpower do they know what it takes to say there must be six aircraft? You are tripling the number of manpower needed to fly and maintain them. It will be huge to make this kind of pronouncement within this period of economic downturn. These things must be considered.
“We think that the space we have at the airports now is not enough, they should expand the airports three times, they need to expand the check-in counters, improve the facilities. Based on the number of aircraft waiting for delivery, in the next two, three years, we should have about 100 new aircraft in this country by existing operators and we are already talking about the need for certain improvements in infrastructure, so I think that should be our focus for now.
“The focus should also be, how we work to ensure maximisation of the aircraft we have; aircraft in Nigeria are underutilised, we are only constrained to fly our aircraft for eight hours as against 18 hours due to infrastructure issue. You are attracted to lessors when they know that the aircraft would be utilised,” he explained.
Meanwhile, IATA during the certificate presentation assured it was going to support UNA in its pursuit to become a global airline of repute.
IATA’s Regional Director, West and Central Africa, Mr. Samson Fatokun, who gave this assurance, commended UNA for its resilience and determination to become a global carrier, saying that it is one of the few carriers on the African continent to get IATA membership and in record time.
His words: “For us this morning, we are here to congratulate United Nigeria Airlines. Thank you for doing so well in a very short time. Also, this is an encouragement for you Mr. Chairman, that being a member of IATA, you have IATA behind you.
“As our member, we will do everything possible to support your operation and your progress. We are now part of the same family. The same family where you have other airlines of this world.
“You have done well. You have met the requirements. You have passed every test put before you. You are here now.
“We have very few of you within the continent and you are part of those few. And we will provide you all the support in advocacy standard, regulations, and in representing you in the global economy of the political class; wherever it may be.
“When you look at when United Nigeria started scheduled operations and when they got IOSA Certification and when they are getting their IATA membership Certificate, it is very short in record time.
“This is a testimony of the rapid growth that we are seeing with United Nigeria. I can’t remember airlines within this region that have gone so fast in becoming an IATA member.”
Okonkwo in response thanked IATA for the pledge to support the Airline while appreciating the workforce for its commitment to UNA’s vision.