…Links Flight Delays, Cancellations To Obsolete Navigational Aids At Airports
The Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) Chairman, Capt Noggie Meggison has called on the Federal Government to as a matter of urgency review all the existing Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) signed between Nigeria and other countries.
This just as he hinted that the body would meet with the Federal Government to see how it could assist the aviation industry to cushion the effects of the ever rising dollars against the Naira, fall in oil prices and other challenges facing the industry.
He said this in a media chat with aviation correspondents at AON secretariat at the Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal Two (MMA2), Lagos.
His comment is coming on the heels of the revelation by “The Regulator” the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority(NCAA) official magazine that, “Nigeria presently has Bilateral Air Service Agreement with 80 countries 29 of these BASAs are active .16 of them are in Africa, seven are in Europe, five in the Middle East/ Asia and USA”
The Federal Government, he stated must as a matter of urgency review the about 80 BASAs Nigerian signed with other countries, adding that most of the BASAs were not reciprocated by Nigerian airlines.
To buttress his point, Meggison stated that Nigeria cannot continue to feed other people’s children when her own children are suffering from malnutrition popularly known as kwashiorkor in local parlance, calling on the Federal Government to protect the Nigerian aviation market.
According to him, “The Federal Government must review all BASAs. We need to sit down and look inward as far as BASA is concerned .We cannot continue to feed other people’s children when our own children are suffering from mal-nutrition; kwashiorkor. The Federal Government must review them to make them mutually beneficial.”
The AON Chairman stated that 80 per cent of the airline Nigeria signed BASA with were not creating jobs for Nigerians, as they come into Nigeria with their gauge spanners.
On the delays and cancelation of flights, the AON boss made it categorically clear that domestic airlines do not delay or cancel flights because of the weather condition in the country but that flights are delayed and cancelled due to the fact that the navigational aids installed at some airports were not working.
He hinted that in other aviation climes aircraft and people fly at zero visibility, wondering why Nigeria’s case is different.
He lamented that in Nigeria airports are closed 2,000, 500 metres, adding that in the past two weeks flights have been delayed because of this.
Meggison stated that in some airports night flights are not operated because there are no runway lights, while visuals flight had to be either delayed or cancelled because navigational aids were not working.
On fare hike by airlines, he argued that airlines have not increased their fares despite the fall in oil price, falling value of the Naira against the Dollars and other challenges.
He said that despite these challenges airlines were still providing safe, comfortable and excellent services to their various passengers.