Allen Onyema, CEO of Air Peace Airlines
BY OLAPEJU OLUBI
For a better institutional synergy, the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) and the Nigeria Customs Service are collaborating to establish an Aviation Desk for the Service to enable its personnel undergo requisite training on aviation matters.
The Vice President of AON and Chairman/CEO of Air Peace, Barrister Allen Onyema who made the disclosure during a recent meeting organized by Aviation Round Table (ART) in Lagos, said idea was to deepen personnel’s understanding of the sector.
He noted that the move was inspired by the need to bring Customs up to speed with the workings of the aviation sector, especially with regards to swift clearance of aircraft spares when under AOG (aircraft on ground).
While he stated that lack of understanding about the urgency of aircraft spares worsens the nightmare of airline operators as clearance delays destabilize their operations, leading to needless revenue loss and loss of man-hours as the airplane remains detained on the ground for the wrong reasons.
According to him: “For easy clearance of aircraft spares and other related imports by the Nigeria Customs Service, one of us, Captain Roland Iyayi spearheaded a move that AON should work with Customs so that they would have an aviation desk. We suggested this to the leadership of Customs and they agreed. They are disposed to doing that with us, in establishing an aviation desk where some of their personnel will be trained specifically to deal with airlines”.
“This is important because currently many of the officials do not understand how aviation works, like what AOG is. So, an airline’s aircraft spare parts might come in and it might remain there for three weeks because they do not understand the urgency of clearing it so that the aircraft would return to work,” Onyema explained.
He added that in other climes, once any aircraft spare part is brought in under AOG, Customs would allow it to be cleared immediately and later the airline would deal with the processes.
Saying this is because the aircraft is treated like a human being; it needs to fly due to the critical role it plays in the economy of any nation. But over here, it is not the same thing.
“So, we need to expedite clearance of spares or aircraft from Customs. The ease of doing business should be improved. It is not only with Customs, but everywhere. This will enhance the support Nigerian airlines need to be stronger,” the AON Vice President said.
Reiterating the challenges faced by domestic airlines, Onyema noted that not having transit facilities at any of the nation’s major airports remains a hindrance to intra-regional connectivity and international operations, adding that ideally, in passenger movement, airlines on international service can use airports with transit facilities as hubs where passengers are brought together and taken to other destinations, but Nigeria does not have such facility at any of its airports.
He advised; “To support Nigerian airlines to be stronger, the airport infrastructure must be improved too. Government officials said Nigerian airlines are not flying international. They compare them with Ethiopian Airlines. The Nigerian airport does not have a transit facility. We don’t have the infrastructure for transiting. We wanted to do it, but the infrastructure at the airports does not support it. We don’t really have a facility where we can bring a large number of travellers, keep them before we fly them to their destinations. Immigration and Customs will tell you that they have not provided for that yet”.
“So, why are we now blaming the airlines for not doing these things? Put everything right and see the airlines succeed. That is the only time you can really assess the airlines rightly; when you have these things working for them. So, there is nothing like transiting, we don’t have the transiting infrastructure in Nigeria,” Onyema noted.
On aircraft maintenance facilities, the AON Vice President said Nigerian carriers lose huge amounts of money in dollars by maintaining their aircraft overseas because Nigeria does not have a major Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility in the country.
Barrister Onyema stressed; “As I speak to you now, I am sure I have about eight aircraft abroad and these are costing millions of dollars. Even to ferry those planes abroad is a lot of money already. So, the Nigerian airlines are destined to fail from the beginning. You are dead on arrival because there are so many things against you. You don’t have MROs that could take care of maintenance. That should have been a major priority the government should have facilitated.
“I don’t believe in the government doing business but the government can provide the enabling environment for people of means to come and build the facility. If the government sets up MRO, it will fail, because government businesses fail anywhere in the world. All they need to do is to provide the enabling environment and people will build the facility,” the Air Peace Chairman advised.
