Poor Policies, Hostile Environment Bane of Indigenous Carriers

Poor regulatory policies and a hostile operating environment have been identified as the major challenges facing Nigeria’s air transport sector, which has been described as lopsided in favour of international operators.

Airline operators who spoke to THISDAY complain that there is no clear policy on how government can support the airlines, as obtained in other parts of the world, since air transportation is a huge vehicle to economic development of any nation.

Consequently, indigenous carriers have been operating without growth and profitability due mainly to the poor policies, lack of support, high fuel prices and high charges.

The President of the National Association of Aircraft Pilot and Engineers (NAAPE), Isaac Balami said: “Generally there is no airline that can survive in the world without government input. Name all the leading airlines from the UK, America, Middle East and others, they all need the support of the host government in one way or the other. Nigeria is the only country in the world without consistent programme on how to support its airlines.”

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of MedView Airline, Alhaji Muneer Bankole says that high fuel cost “eats up the revenue of airlines, taking over 40 per cent of operational cost of putting aircraft in the air.”

He said that as oil producing country, Nigerian airlines should not be paying for fuel at the present high price of N170 per litre, adding that government should support the airlines by reviewing downward the price of aviation fuel, Jet A1.

Bankole said that about 2812. 5 litres of fuel is consumed by a Boeing 737 aircraft for a 50 minutes flight from Lagos to Abuja. This, when multiplied by N170.00 per litre, will cost an airline with that aircraft type about N478, 125 for that 50 minutes flight.

He said government should invite oil marketers to the table to see how they could reach a compromise on how to bring down the cost of aviation fuel, remarking that the marketers also have their own challenges.

The airlines have also complained about high charges by aviation agencies, including the five per cent tax on ticket by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), which it shares with two other agencies; the charges paid to the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria and that of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA).

Bankole said that these charges stifle the growth of indigenous airlines and this explained why no domestic airline exists for a long time and also why Nigerian operators have limited capacity, lamenting that a country of over 170 million has barely six operating airlines, many of them with few aircraft in their fleet.

“The challenge in running an airline in Nigeria is enormous. It is just the matter of doing something for a long time that made us go into the business,” Bankole said.
He however gave kudos to the Federal Government for the waiver of Customs duty on importation of commercial aircraft and parts, noting that the Nigerian Customs Service is cooperating to make the waiver work.

culled  from Thisday

Arik Air Enhances Offering with Mobile, Tablet Apps for Customers

Nigeria’s major airline, Arik Air has continued to improve its in-flight technology for the comfort of passengers by becoming the first sub-Saharan airline to introduce a mobile and tablet booking app, in a drive to further enhance its customer experience.

The announcement follows Arik Air’s decision to partner with mobile commerce firm SlimTrader in August, to provide the airline’s recently launched mobile booking service. Free to download on Blackberry, iOS, or Android devices, the app marks the latest of a raft of planned enhancements in the coming months.

Once downloaded, the Arik app presents consumers with an intuitive, easy-to-use interface. Customers enter their preferred dates and number of passengers, then select the flight or flights from their desired schedule. Payment is similarly simple and because the app is unique to Arik, there are no fees leveled by third-party booking services, leaving customers with the best possible rate.

The app also includes a ‘Remember Me” feature, allowing customers to easily pick a card from a list of their registered cards without needing to enter full details of their bank card each time they make a purchase. Arik is the first organization in Nigeria or West Africa to seamlessly integrate this feature into its offering.

Dr Michael Arumemi-Ikhide, Arik Air’s Global Chief Executive Officer, commented: “The popularity of mobile commerce has increased massively in Africa and we are delighted to be the first Sub-Saharan African airline to offer customers a dedicated booking app to enhance our service.

“Mobile penetration far exceeds the reach of the internet in Nigeria and West Africa and additions like this help position Arik as a 21st Century operator, using cutting edge technology to improve ease of service and customer interaction.”

Femi Akinde, CEO of SlimTrader, commented: "As an E-commerce platform that seeks to help enterprises distribute their goods and services across multiple digital channels, we are extremely happy to be a part of Arik Air’s history-making service offerings on mobile devices."

culled from Thisday

Arik Air becomes first African airline to purchase Bombardier’s CRJ 1000 aircraft

ARIK Air has become the first African airline to purchase a brand new Bombardier’s CRJ 1000 aircraft as part of its continued drive to modernise its fleet and bring its operations up to international standards.



Celebrating its seventh anniversary, Arik unveiled the aircraft yesterday as part of its continued charm offensive to assure the Nigerian public that it is a safe airline to fly with. This latest acquisition brings the airline’s fleet size to 26 aircraft, all of them less than eight years old.



Michael Arumemi-Ikhide, Arik's chief executive, said: “As we mark our seven years of uninterrupted service, we also look forward to the next chapter of our history in revolutionising air travel. We do so by proudly unveiling the newest member of Arik’s modern fleet, a Bombardier’s next generation CRJ 1000 regional jet.”



He added that the transaction and other joint-venture collaborations such as investment in maintenance support facilities, demonstrates Bombardier’s depth of confidence in both Arik Air and Nigeria’s burgeoning aviation sector. Arik and Bombardier, the Canadian aircraft manufacturer have built up a growing relationship over recent years.



Raphael Haddad, Bombardier's vice president sales for Africa and the Middle East, who was also at the unveiling ceremony, said the new aircraft is very reliable and flies in many destinations around the world. He declined to comment on how much the new aircraft cost but aircraftcompare.com put the price at over $46m.



Mr Haddad said: “This CRJ 1000 is the latest born in our CRJ family. It is highly reliable, highly economical and has a very good environmental footprint in terms of noise and fuel burnt.”



Bombardier’s 100-seat CRJ1000 NextGen regional jet is the latest and biggest member of the CRJ series but retains many of the physical characteristics of its relatives. About 128 feet long, the CRJ1000 features a 7.5% trailing-edge extension over its 88-seat predecessor, a 0.66m wing-tip extension and reinforced landing gear and carbon instead of steel, brakes.



Arik began operations on 30 October 2006 with three brand new Bombardier CRJ 900 aircraft and flew only four daily flights between Lagos and Abuja. Today, the airline has not only extended its operations within Nigeria but has gone international, with the daily Lagos-Abuja-London flight being one of its most lucrative.
culled from nigerianwatch.com

Shettima urges Arik to resume Maiduguri flights

Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima yesterday visited the headquarters of Arik Air in Lagos with a call for resumption of flight operations to Maiduguri.

Arik recently suspended Maiduguri flights, following the closure of the airport there by aviation authorities in the wake of a deadly attack on military bases.
On Tuesday , Shettima met with management of Arik, led by its chairman Chief Joseph Arumemi-Ikhide, where he assured of his commitment to work with security agencies to ensure maximum security to safeguard land and air passengers.
Shettima said flight operations were critical to the economy of Borno, serving as one of the major links between the state and other parts of the world.
He described Arik as a good friend of the state, recalling that since the insurgency began in 2009, the airline maintained daily flights to Maiduguri until 16 days ago.
Shettima also said there had been exaggerations on the Boko Haram insurgency in the state, saying that so many activities were taking place in spite of the problems.
Arik chairman Arumemi-Ikhide pledged to meet with security agencies to discuss the governor’s demand for flights resumption.

source: Daily Trust

We are not bothered about national carrier controversy —Arik

Arik Air has said it is not worried about Aero Contractors or any other carrier being named a national carrier.

Arik’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Michael Arumemi-Ikhide said this at the sidelines of Arik Air’s unveiling of its brand new aircraft, Bombadier CRJ-1000, a new generation aircraft in Lagos.
Dr. Arumemi-Ikhide said Arik isn’t focused on compe-tition from a national carrier or any other carrier but only focused on delivering on its core business mandate.
But “If given opportunity to be the national carrier, we are ready even today”, he declared.
“I don’t believe in focusing too much on competition. It is important to recognise competition, but my philosophy is, if I focus on my business, if I focus is on my products and services are the best that they can be, it is the customers that will dictate who should succeed. I’m not worried. At the end of the day, it is for the benefit of Nigeria” he said.
He noted that what’s important is that Nigeria should be the better for it. “We have over 150 million people, the market is phenomenal. The market penetration so far is less than 10 percent. So we need more carriers for the good of our people. So if a national carrier will mean more flying opportunity for Nigerians, more economic development, if it means happier travellers, if it means a more prosperous nation, it’s all good. But let it be the best, let it be for the benefit of the customers and let the airline but of sound standard, reliable and safe.”
“But let us not retreat to the days before the rested national carrier that kept lives at risk. If these are in place, I will wish the new national carrier good luck but I’m not bother because my focus is on myself” he said.
Speaking on Arik’s expansion drive, the CEO said Arik’s “plan going forward is to connect the West African market entirely from Lagos and Abuja”.
According to him, “We will also connect the Central and East African markets from Lagos and Abuja. In the next 6 years we will increase our fleet by 90 percent, bringing in again, like the CRJ1000, new technology, new innovations and also address the service delivery needs of our customers.”
He said the airline would increase its international frequencies in 2014.

source: Daily Trust

Arik Air selects Commsoft's OASES

Arik Air has selected Commsoft's OASES software, which allows full integration of maintenance and engineering functions.

The Nigerian airline will use OASES to support its internal continuing airworthiness management organisation (CAMO) capabilities. It said it is likely to appoint an OASES-experienced third party contractor to assist with training and development.
The initial focus will be on Arik Air's two A330-200s, later including the rest of the airline's fleet, including: 737-800s; 737-700s; CRJ-900s; and Dash 8 Q400s.
Allan Fullilove, technical director of Arik Air,commented: "Having utilised OASES with another airline many years ago, I am impressed at the latest major improvements developed by Commsoft. I believe OASES will offer major value benefits at Arik Air as we develop our technical capabilities."
Commsoft's OASES has 56 direct customers in 32 countries.
Source: www.afm.aero

Arik Air donates vehicle to police

Arik Air yesterday donated a Toyota Hilux Pick-up van to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Police Command to improve security of lives and property. Commissioner of Police Mr Waheed Salau received it on behalf of the police.

The donation, according to the Managing Director of Arik Air, Mr Chris Ndulue, was part of the series of logistic assistance programmes carried out by the airline to enhance security in its working environment.

During the presentation at the headquarters of the airline in Lagos, Ndulue said: “Arik Air is delighted to make this presentation to the Police at the Airport as a token of our appreciation for responding to our call anytime the officers and men are called upon. We are indeed happy over this donation and we are looking forward to other things to come. Once more, we urge you to continue to secure our airports to make passengers’ traveling experience delightful. We embark on a lot of corporate social responsibility projects, but this donation appears obvious because of the publicity it has attracted.”

Exuding excitement, the police chief thanked Arik Air for the gesture, which he described as unique. Salau added that the police were highly encouraged by the donation, noting: “The police are very excited and grateful over this van donation by Arik Air. This is historic, the very first van donation from any domestic airline.

“We are very happy and will immediately deploy this vehicle for patrol to ensure smooth operations around the airport and ensure it is free of criminal activities. We will try to reduce criminal activities around the airport drastically.”

culled from The Nation