Relaunch of Nigerian airline suspended

Nigeria is suspending the relaunch of its national airline just over two months after it announced the new venture, the country's aviation minister has said.

The government had planned to launch the prestige project in December to make good on a promise by Muhammadu Buhari when he ran for president in 2015. He will seek re-election in February.

"I regret to announce that the Federal Executive Council has taken the tough decision to suspend the national carrier project in the interim," Hadi Sirika, junior aviation minister, said on Wednesday on Twitter after the weekly cabinet meeting.

"All commitments due will be honoured," he said. No reason was given for the decision.

In a separate statement, Sirika said: "The suspension was strategic and had nothing to do with politics."

The airline relaunch was announced in July as part of a plan to improve the country's infrastructure, which has suffered due to decades of neglect and underinvestment. The government maintains that improvement will require private investment.

A private operator was sought to manage the airline, according to a document seen by Reuters news agency.

The operator would enter a public-private partnership with the government, which would own no more than five percent.

The chief executive of Ethiopian Airlines said in August the airline was a frontrunner to set up and manage the carrier.

Nigeria Airways, the original national airline, operated for 45 years until 2003. Air Nigeria, its successor, ran from 2005 to 2012.

Al Jazeera

Nigeria to relaunch its national airline by the end of year

Nigeria unveiled a new national carrier Wednesday, nearly 15 years after the previous state-run airline, Nigerian Airways ceased operations.

The new airline will be known as Nigeria Air.

Nigerian Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika made the announcement and unveiled the new branding and livery for the airline at the Farnborough International Airshow in the UK.
"I'm very pleased to tell you that we are finally on track to launching a new national flag carrier for our country: Nigeria Air," Sirika said at the event.

The name was chosen after Nigeria's Ministry of Aviation invited Nigerian youth and students to contribute "their ideas and creativity in developing the new Nigerian Flag carrier," according to the website nameyourairlinenigeria.com.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari's media aide, Bashir Ahmad announced the name on Twitter.
"And it's Nigeria Air ...Bringing Nigeria closer to the world #NigeriaAtFarnborough," Ahmad wrote, alongside a photo of the branding presented at Farnborough.

According to Sirika, the federal government hopes to launch operations by the end of the year.
Nigerians have greeted the announcement with skepticism as they expressed uncertainty about the federal government's capacity to sustain a national airline, especially considering its track record with previous national carriers.

One man wrote on Twitter that he supported the creation of a national airline, "as long as it's not the government running it."

Their fears may be allayed by reports that the airline will be primarily owned and managed by a group of a yet unidentified private investors. 

"The Nigerian Government will not own more than 5% (maximum) of the new National Carrier. The government will not be involved in running it or deciding who runs it," Sirika said at the press conference in Farnborough.

Marketplace Africa covers the macro trends impacting the region and profiles the continent's key industries and corporations. 

However, some are also questioning the government's involvement in bargaining with aircraft manufacturers such as Boeing in light of Sirika's statement.

"No private investors named but the govt that will supposedly own a tiny percentage is leading negotiations for aircraft purchase and drawing logo in Calibri font. Carry on," London-based Nigerian commentator, Feyi Fawehinmi wrote on Twitter.

Nigeria's federal government has suffered many setbacks in its many attempts to create a new national carrier since Nigerian Airways ceased operations in 2003.

 
Described as 'Africa's fastest growing airline' in its heyday in the 1980s, Nigeria Airways was plagued by mismanagement, eventually amassing millions of dollars in debt upon its closure.

In 2004, a team of Nigerian investors and Virgin Atlantic Airways, owned by British entrepreneur, Sir Richard Branson signed a joint venture agreement creating a new national carrier, Virgin Nigeria.

Despite reaching record numbers and carrying its 1,000,000th passenger within two years of operations, Virgin Atlantic announced plans to sell its 49% stake in Virgin Nigeria in August 2008, along with a review of whether "the Virgin brand should remain linked to Virgin Nigeria."

In September 2009, Virgin Nigeria announced a name change to Nigerian Eagle Airlines on its website.

In 2010, Nigerian business magnate, Jimoh Ibrahim acquired a majority stake in the carrier and announced a rebranding to Air Nigeria.

The airline eventually ceased operations in September 2012, weeks after laying off the majority of its staff.

Minister Hadi Sirika assured the audience at Farnborough and Nigerians that the new national carrier would be a much sturdier and efficient enterprise.

"I am confident that we will have a well-run national flag carrier, a global player, compliant to international safety standards, one which has the customer at its heart. 

"An airline that communicates the essence of our beautiful country, an airline we can all be proud of," Sirika said at the unveiling.

CNN

Air plane door of Nigerian airline Dana Air falls off on runway

A Nigerian airline has blamed a passenger after one of its aircraft doors fell off shortly after landing.

The flight from Lagos to Abuja was taxiing on the runway when the emergency exit door came away.

Dana Air denied that it was caused by a mechanical fault, and said the door could not fall off "without a conscious effort by a passenger to open it".

But one passenger told the BBC that everyone on board had denied tampering with the door.

Dapo Sanwo, from Lagos, said: "The flight was noisy with vibrations from the floor panel. I noticed the emergency door latch was loose and dangling."

"When we landed and the plane was taxiing back to the park point, we heard a poof-like explosion, followed by a surge of breeze and noise. It was terrible."

"The cabin crew tried to say a passenger pulled the hatch which everyone denied. They also tried to get us to stop taking videos or pictures."

Ola Brown, who was also travelling on the flight, said on Twitter: "Did you hear [the door] rattling the whole flight? Was so unsettling. I just thought it was a screw loose, Didn't think it would actually just fall off."

In a statement, Dana Air denied there were issues with the door during the flight.

"The emergency exit door of our aircraft are plug-type backed by pressure, which ordinarily cannot fall off without tampering or a conscious effort to open by a crew member or passenger," the company said.

"When an aircraft is airborne, it is fully pressurised and there was no way the seat or door could have been shaking as insinuated."

The airline went on to say it had been inspected by engineers alongside a Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority team and "no issue was reported".

"The [return] flight was only delayed for eight minutes as we needed to demonstrate to the regulators that the safety and comfort of our guests is at the centre of our operations," the statement added.

In 2012, a Dana Air flight crashed in a busy Lagos suburb killing all 153 people on board.

Nigeria has historically had a poor air safety record. Last year, Abuja's airport airport was closed for six weeks while major repairs were carried out on its runway.

BBC

Closure of Abuja airport cuts Nigeria travel by 28.9%

The closure of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, led to a 28.2 per cent decline in the number of air travellers across Nigerian airports, the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, had said.

According to the air transport report figures released by the NBS Thursday, the number of air travellers declined by 983,705, due to the six-week closure of the airport.

The Abuja airport was closed by the Nigerian government on March 8 for repair works to be carried out on its runway and taxiways.

The airport was reopened on April 18 following the completion of the repair work.

According to the NBS , the total number of passengers who passed through Nigerian airports in the first quarter of this year at 2,505,612.

The bureau added that 67.3 per cent were domestic passengers, while the rest were international passengers, entering or leaving Nigeria.

The report noted that, “relative to the previous quarter , there were 983,705 fewer passengers , a fall of 28.2 per cent and relative to the first quarter of 2016 there were 1,165 ,482 fewer, or 29 . 4 per cent less.

“This was largely due to the closure of the Abuja airport from March 8,” it explained.

There were 311, 261 fewer domestic passengers to travel through the Abuja airport relative to the previous quarter, it added.

The bureau noted, however, that the effect on the total number will not be limited to a reduction in passengers travelling through Abuja, as each domestic passenger to leave Abuja would have also counted as an arrival at a different domestic airport, and vice versa.

“Therefore , although all airports saw a reduction in domestic passenger numbers, this is still partly explained by the Abuja airport closure,” it said.

The Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos, the report said, recorded the most activity as it accounted for 41.4 per cent of domestic passengers, 76.5 per cent of international passengers, 90.3 per cent of cargo movement and 94.9 per cent of mail movement.

But despite the closure, the Abuja airport remained the second largest domestic airport, and accounted for 499,149 passengers, representing 29.6 per cent of the total, the NBS said.

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