FAAN, Edo Trade Accusations over Shutdown of Benin Airport

The administrative office of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) located in the Benin-City Airport, was Tuesday morning shut down by the Edo State Board of Internal Revenue (ESBIR), over alleged unremitted N15 million Pay As You Earn (PAYE) deductible tax from staff salary for 2011.

It was gathered that the action led to the grounding of air operations and other services at the airport, thereby forcing the workers out of the airport for the failure of the agency to pay taxes, which were long overdue.

Consequently, hundreds of passengers, who were billed to travel to either Lagos or Abuja were locked out of the entrance and exit gates of the airport, while Arik Air passengers, who landed early in the morning were not allowed to go out through the gates of the airport.

THISDAY gathered that the airport was closed after Arik Air operated its early morning service by 7.30 a.m. and as the air traffic controllers landed the aircraft, thus grounding the Arik Air flight and passenger on the outboard back to Lagos; after those brought to Benin-City were disembarked.

Both Aero Contractors and Arik Air cancelled all flights to the airports together with charter operators until 3.p.m. when the airport was reopened and the Arik Air flight that was inadvertently grounded was allowed to fly back to Lagos with passengers.

THISDAY also learnt that both Aero and Arik might operate their evening fights to the airport but officials of the two airlines were sceptical that their aircraft might be impounded even after a seeming truce was reached between FAAN and the revenue body.
 

The closure and suspension of air control services from the airport may have affected air operations to the other airports adjacent to Benin City as pilots communicate to air traffic controllers en route to their final destinations in addition to over flyers on international routes.

The Chairman of the state BIR, Chief Oseni Elamah, told journalists that the action followed the failure of FAAN to remit N15 million tax deducted from workers’ salary for the year 2011.

“In the past, we had to use judicial means to get the money from them. This time, we served them notice but they failed to respond to it. We had to served them court notice to that effect, which they still did not respond to. Hence, we have to come and seal up their administrative office,” he said.

 Following this development, Elamah, who supervised the exercise, had the gates opened, saying it was the administrative office of FAAN that was locked, and not gates of the airport.

“It was a deliberate attempt to blackmail us. It was their office we sealed, and not the gates,” Elamah said.

The Benin City Airport Manager, Mr. Sunday Ayodele, could not be reached for comments as he was being whisked away by operatives.

THISDAY gathered that the Airport Manager was whisked away by security operatives because of his attack on the cameraman attached to BIR taskforce.

He was alleged to have smashed the camera used for filming the incident.

Reacting to the incident, the General Manager, Corporate Communications of FAAN, Mr. Yakubu Dati, condemned the closure of the airport without notice and said the revenue board should have explored all avenues of communication to establish their message instead of carrying out such action, which could threaten the safety and security of the airport.

Dati said significant revenue had been lost by airlines, the airport authority as well as the airspace agency for many flights by domestic airlines in and out of the airport, as well as other over flyers of the airspace.

The FAAN general manager, who absolved the state government of any political motive in the issue, remarked that the matter could have been resolved amicably without disrupting operations at Benin Airport.

Meanwhile, Governor Adams Oshiomohole had condemned the assault on Elamah by agents of FAAN.

The governor also frowned on the arrest of Elamah, on the orders of the Inspector-General of Police, Mr Mohammed Abubakar, saying the police ought to protect the man trying to enforce the law and not the lawbreaker.

 He said the due process of law will be applied to pursue the matter and called for the release of Elamah.

According to the governor, “the Edo State government did not seal up the airport, the revenue board staff went there peacefully to do their job. The authority of the revenue board went to serve an ‘order’ on the administrative office of FAAN, it was done in a way to ensure that it does not affect the operations of the airport knowing that the airport is a public place and as much as we want to collect taxes due to government, we don’t want to inflict pains on travellers who are not a party to the issue of tax evasion.”

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/faan-edo-trade-accusations-over-shutdown-of-benin-airport

 Culled fromThisday

Authors: Chinedu Eze and Adibe Emenyonu

Arik Air, West and Central Africa's Largest Airline, Expands its International Fleet

Arik Air, West Africa and Central Africa's leading airline, has expanded its international fleet with the acquisition of the newA330-200 twin-engine aircraft. The new aircraft will service the airlines bilateral air services agreement (BASA) long haul routes, which includes London Heathrow, New York John F Kennedy and Johannesburg Oliver Tambo Airports.
The introduction of the Airbus A330-200 widebody aircraft to the Arik Air fleet, is the first of its kind to be added to the airline, and will increase the current fleet to 24 aircrafts, with a further 24 aircrafts on order.
"We continue to rise as the airline of choice for passengers traveling to West Africa from New York, and we are dedicated to the delivery of premium customer service and efficiency to our passengers. The expansion of our fleet with the acquisition of a new A330-200 twin engine aircraft, will enable us to provide our passengers with an even more robust service offering, and continue to retain our competitive edge", said Robert Brunner, VP, America's Arik Air.

Since launching in the US in 2009, Arik Air has enjoyed a rapid rise to success with travelers from the
tri-state area, and among members of the large African diaspora communities across the US. The airline remains dedicated to partnering and serving the US community by way of sponsorships and partnerships with a variety of organizations and events. These collaborations range from partnerships with professional and educational programs, beauty pageants, universities and concerts.

Arik Air recently was a sponsor of the Black Entertainment Television (BET) Awards held in Los Angeles. The airline worked closely with BET International to fly many of the international nominees from West Africa to the US. One of the nominees, the Nigerian artist Ice Prince, won the Best International Artist Award, and Arik Air is the official airline sponsor of the current Ice Prince 2013 US tour.
"As an airline we enjoy partnering directly with events and organizations that allow our customers to have direct contact with our brand and brand ambassadors. It is important to us that our customers know we are dedicated to them, and this includes facilitating and supporting them in many aspects of their lives", said Robert Brunner, VP, America's Arik Air.

In the upcoming months, Arik Air is involved in a number of collaboration with community organizations and events. Arik Air is the official airline sponsor of the upcoming US tour for Nigerian artist P Square. In addition the airline is partnering with the Nigerian Entertainment Awards (NEA) held in New York, the Nigerian Independence Day Parade held in New York, and the ACANA Africa Festival held in Philadelphia.
Arik Air was recently honored as Ambassadors of Good Will by the Governor of Arkansas, who appointed both the airlines Chairman, Sir Joseph Akinola Arumemi-Ikhide and Vice President America's, Robert Brunner official "Arkansas Travelers". Arkansas Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola, also awarded them both with a key to the city of Little Rock.

About Arik Air
Arik Air is West and Central Africa's largest airline, and operates mainly from two hubs at Murtala Mohammed Airport Lagos and Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja. It operates a fleet of 23 state-of-the art regional, medium haul and long haul aircrafts including two Airbus A340-500 making the airline the first operator of this particular type of wide-bodied aircraft in Africa. The airline currently serves 20 destinations in Nigeria and flies to 11 international destinations including London Heathrow (UK) and New York JFK (USA). The airline operates a combined number of over 120 daily flights from its hubs, and has been Africa's fastest growing airline for the last two years. Website: www.arikair.com
http://nz.finance.yahoo.com/news/arik-air-west-central-africas132411064.html
Source:GLOBE NEWSWIRE
 

Arik Air sponsors Nigeria’s Centenary Celebration Pageant

By Lateef Lawal, Nigerian Commercial Aviation News

Arik Air, Nigeria and West Africa’s largest airline is to play a key role in Nigeria’s Centenary Celebrations as an Associate Sponsor of the Centenary Pageant.

The world class pageant is aimed at promoting the objectives of the 2014 Centenary celebrations marking the amalgamation of southern and northern Nigeria by Lord Lugard in 1914.

 An agreement to this effect was signed on Monday between Arik Air and AOE Events and Entertainment Limited, the company commissioned by The Federal Government of Nigeria to put together the Centenary Pageant.

Former Miss Nigeria, Chief Nike Oshinowo who is the Chief Executive/Creative Director AOE Events and Entertainment Limited disclosed at the signing ceremony that Arik Air will participate in all aspects of Nigeria’s Centenary Pageant as the Associate sponsor.

It is expected that the Nigeria Centenary Pageant Queen will serve as Arik Air’s Brand Ambassador for no less than five years while the airline will be involved in the nationwide castings, reality TV shows as well as post event mentions during the Queen’s reign.

The Centenary Pageant will be in three phases: casting and selection of contestants, camp and reality show, and the grand finale.


Arik Air Managing Director/Executive Vice President, Mr. Chris Ndulue elaborated on the Centenary Pageant sponsorship:

“Arik Air is honoured to be invited to play a key role in Nigeria’s Centenary celebrations. This partnership further underscores our commitment to the people of Nigeria to deliver new standards in aviation and promote that which is truly Nigerian.”

AOE Events’ Creative Director, Chief Nike Oshinowo said: “This unique window, Nigeria’s Centenary Pageant, affords Arik Air the opportunity of projecting its brand in this once in a lifetime competition. Nigeria’s Centenary Pageant would take place once every One Hundred Years. This makes the Centenary Queen the most sought after title in the history of pageants in Africa.”

A Determined Chairman, An Honest VP And A Game-Changing Airline: A Love Story

By Zandile Blay, Founder, AfricaStyleDaily.com; Former Fashion Editor, Paper Magazine


Perhaps, love's got nothing to do with it.


After all, with sky-high fuel costs, plummeting budgets and increasing bankruptcies, the global aviation industry is driven more by the bottom line and less by emotion. Yet when it comes to Nigeria, the bottom line seems bleaker still.

From 2002 to 2006, the country was plagued by a series of tragic plane crashes which took hundreds of lives and eroded consumers' ability to trust their domestic airlines. Global brands like Virgin have tried -- and failed -- to reverse this misfortune by partnering with the Nigerian government, as they did in September 2004 to launch a flag-carrying airline.

Minted Virgin Nigeria Airways, the partnership never quiet took off, and by September of 2009, it was over.

Stakeholders re-branded the airline as Nigerian Eagle Airlines, and upon buying majority ownership in 2010 Jimoh Ibrahim renamed it Air Nigeria.

New names didn't solve Air Nigeria's old problems, and the airline remained dogged by safety issues, culminating in its grounding in June 2012.

Yet these pale in comparison to Lagos-based Dana Air, the airline behind the tragic plane recently, which led to over 150 deaths. In such an environment there's no reason nor logic nor business plan that would move a sound investor to launch an airline in Nigeria.


Nothing really. Except for love.

It was was a love of country that inspired engineering magnate Sir Joseph Arumemi-Ikhide to, as he tells it, "return Nigeria to its rightful place, as a leading aviation market." To that end Ikhide purchased two Bombardier CRJ aircraft in 2006 and hired staff to fly the popular route between Nigeria's old and new capitals, Lagos and Abuja. These were the first new planes to be flown in Nigeria in 20 years. Beyond being a point of pride for the upstart airline, it served a very practical purpose for Nigeria's domestic fliers who at the time numbered over six million. (Reports show that by 2011, that figure skyrocketed to 12 million.) In the years since, Arik Air's fortunes and presence have equally grown. In technology, they are leaders not just in Nigeria -- but on the world stage.

Their use of the prestigious monitoring service Lufthansa Technik AG, the leading independent provider of maintenance for aircraft, is a first not just for Nigeria but the African continent as a whole. That dedication to safety has served Arik well in their rapidly expanding roster of locations, which has far surpassed their inaugural route to include several cities in sub-Saharan Africa, the U.S. and England. It's also earned them back to back awards from Security Watch Africa as the Best Security & Safety airline in Nigeria from 2007 to 2009. The net result has been an aggressive growth in Arik's market share, which the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority confirms is at 58% and rising.

The rapid rate at which Sir Arumemi-Ikhide has accomplished the above is not lost on him

"What has been actualized has outstripped my vision for this airline," he says in our exclusive interview. "If someone told me on our inaugural flight day (29 October 2006), with one aircraft and one route and a handful of staff, that just over five years later we would have grown to a fleet of 23 aircraft, deployed on 44 routes with over 130 flights daily being run by a staff of over 2,500 worldwide I would not have believed it. That's not to say that was not my ambition, it is just the sheer pace of how it has grown that has been breathtaking."

The success has firm foundation in Ikhide's most impressive investment of all: his workforce. Arik Air has placed its onus on hiring and developing top notch pilots within the country. Key to this plan is grooming female captains, of which Arik currently has over a dozen. Despite its pro-Nigeria philosophy, the carrier also values a diverse staff and has employed several esteemed airline professional from Europe and the U.S. to develop the growing airline.

Chief among these is Bob Brunner, Arik Air's affable, honest and straight-shooting Vice President of Americas. With over 30 years experience at British Airways, where he started from the ground up and rose to executive ranks, Brunner is a seasoned vet in the industry. The native New Yorker he has a remarkable understanding and passion for the Nigerian market which serves him well in his task of building Arik's presence in the U.S, and specifically the New York market.
"Nigerians are proud of their heritage and our owners want the airline to be a point of national pride." says Brunner. "[We want] a business that shows Nigerians can run a global, service-oriented business which can successfully compete with the well-known airline brands. A business all Nigerians can be proud to look at and say 'That's my National Airline.'"

Such insight will be key in overcoming current challenges that dull Arik Air's competitive edge in the U.S market. These include developing programs and technologies that are standard to a New York audience such as online check-in, partnerships with international carriers and frequent flyer programs.

"We are very focused on constant improvement," asserts Brunner. "We know when we made the decision to fly to London, New York and Johannesburg we would be a five-year-old airline competing with companies with more than 50 years experience. We couldn't possibly have all the infrastructure developed that they had and thus all the same offerings. We are focused on those things that will have the most impact -- give the customers the most benefit. Even as we are today, Arik provides the best travel experience from JFK to Lagos of any airline. "

Brunner's sentiment may be subjective, but it proved truthful on my recent flights between New York and Lagos. From first class to the economy cabin, the craft was clean, modern and boasted a decor that lovingly paid homage to Nigerian culture.The Lagos-based crew was friendly and attentive as they graciously welcomed guests aboard. Mealtime was a cultural celebration with a menu that offered Western style dishes but highlighted Nigerian specialties like joloff and okra soup.

On both routes, the hundred-plus customers who packed the flight exuded greater to lesser degrees of joy over the experience. But whether reclining in Arik's luxe first class cabin, chatting over cocktails at the in-flight bar, or mingling in spacious economy seats, no one was indifferent. Superior service and a sense of cultural and national pride peppered the experience Arik created for these customers. It was something that was entirely lacking in subsequent flights I took on other national airlines like Air Nigeria and Aero Charter.

At the end of the flight as I observed sleepy-eyed, satisfied customers greet attendants good-bye and their final destination hello, one thing was clear about Arik Air: love may have everything to do with it after all.

Arik Air introduces new aircraft to its fleet

By Lateef Lawal, Nigerian Commercial Aviation News

Arik Air, Nigeria and West Africa’s leading commercial airline has increased its fleet to 24 aircraft with the introduction of an Airbus A330-200 twin-engine aircraft. This latest addition to the fleet marks the first of four A330 aircraft due to be delivered over the coming year.
The new A330 aircraft will compliment Arik Air’s long-haul wide body fleet, which currently consists of two A340-500 aircraft. Fitted to offer the very best in-flight comfort and style, the new additions are an environmentally-friendly product that will provide the highest degree of operational flexibility and passenger comfort. The A330s offer a two class configuration with 30 Premier Business Class seats and 187 Economy Class seats, compared to 36 Premier Business Class seats and 201 Economy Class seats in the A340 aircraft. Both aircraft types are fitted with the same on-board product, providing the latest in comfort and style and a consistent product experience across the long-haul fleet. This enables Arik Air the opportunity to upgrade the Lagos – Johannesburg route, replacing the existing B737-800 currently flying between the two cities, as well as to look at opportunities to develop new long-haul destinations, such as in China, UAE, Brazil or more cities in the US and Europe.
The Premier Business Class product is carefully tailored to meet the discerning business traveller’s needs. Passengers will have individual secluded booth areas that contain flat beds featuring an in-built massage system complete with a hand held 3.5” inch LCD screen unit controlling seat and lighting functions. The very latest in-flight entertainment can be enjoyed on a large 17 inch widescreen monitor installed on the front wall of the booth.
Those flying in Premier Business Class will also be able to enjoy Arik’s on-board bar and lounge facility. The ‘Kira’ bar area is situated in the centre of the cabin and has bar seats as well as a surrounding seating area for passengers to enjoy the complementary bar offering
The Economy cabin is designed for maximum comfort and style. Passengers will enjoy a 32-33 inch seat pitch in the spacious cabin and individual seat back 10.6 inch screens
All passengers will have access to an audio video on demand system, with a wide selection of Hollywood and Nollywood films. In addition, short programs and an audio library provide customers with the very best in-flight entertainment.
Arik will cater to all guests tastes by offering international cuisine and a complete Nigerian on-board experience, with a colloquial Nigerian meal service, offering a blend of traditional dishes such as hot pepper soup.
Commenting on the introduction of the A330s, Dr Michael Arumemi-Ikhide, Arik Air’s Group Chief Executive Officer said:
“We constantly review our fleet requirements to ensure the services we offer to our customers remain competitive and provide the highest quality. The introduction of the new aircraft highlights our commitment to providing our customers with the best product on our long-haul routes.
Arik Air is synonymous with offering a truly unique African experience, from the food to the in-flight products on offer. This, combined with our reputation for providing on-board service and hospitality which is second to none, is what differentiates us from the competition”.