Managing
Director of Air Peace airlines, Allen Onyema, gave the verdict
yesterday, saying the current “harsh environment” fueled by bad
policies, bureaucracy and multiple taxation have put the airlines more
at dire straits with six unable to meet obligation.
The Managing Director of Air Peace, Mr Allen Onyema, on Thursday said Nigerian airlines were opposed to implementation of the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) because of the absence of a level playing field.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Onyema made the assertion while speaking with newsmen in Lagos.
He said that currently, the treaty does not favour Nigeria because
other countries use high charges to discourage Nigerian airlines from
operating to their cities.
Onyema said when airlines from such countries come to Nigeria, they
pay relatively less charges than what they levy Nigerian carriers.The
airline chief said what Nigerian airlines were demanding was observation
of the principle of reciprocity by the Federal Government.
“When we say that this Single African Air Transport Market does not favour us, it is not because we cannot compete.
“It means that it does not favour us at this stage, except a level playing field is created.
“This is not only happening in Nigeria; when Emirates was eroding the US market, the airlines in America cried out.
“Their government did something about it and put policies that tried to stunt the spread of the Gulf airlines into America.
“This is in order to protect their own. So, we must try to protect
our own in this country. If we don’t protect our own airlines, they will
continue to struggle,” he said.
Onyema also spoke on safety in Nigeria’s aviation industry,
commending the authorities for significant improvements over the years.
He attributed the feat to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority’s
strict adherence to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO)
recommended practices.
Onyema said the NCAA, in the last four years under the management of
the current Director-General, Capt. Muhtar Usman, had improved the
safety rating of the aviation industry.
He said that for instance, since the last accident involving
Associated Aviation in 2013, there had not been any accident or major
incident involving commercial airlines operating in Nigeria.
The airline chief said this accounted for Nigeria’s successive ICAO
and the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) audits with 96.4 per
cent pass mark for safety.
“Talking about regulation, I think Nigerian airlines are well regulated.
“The NCAA is doing a wonderful job on that. It is not easy; sometimes
you don’t feel comfortable with the way they are doing it, but they
have to do it.
“The kind of regulation NCAA brings to bear on Nigerian airlines cannot be compared to any other; even in advanced countries.
“For instance, we had a bird strike on our first day in Kano and the pilot made air return back to the airport.
“We sent our British engineers to Kano to rescue the aircraft. Then
we sent another aircraft to Abuja to go and airlift the passengers.
“Do you know that after the British engineers rectified it, NCAA
insisted on being on the flight when we carried out a test flight? I was
happy when I heard that,” he said.
