30.12.2020 - 05:10 UTC
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has reached a compromise with local airlines on a plan to recover about NGN22 billion naira (USD58 million) in various charges owed by the carriers, according to Director General Musa Nuhu.
Speaking to parliamentarians conducting an oversight visit to the NCAA offices in Lagos recently, he said the regulator understood the difficulties airlines were experiencing resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and would institute a payment plan that was accommodating to both the airlines and the agency, local media reported. The members of the House of Representatives' Committee on Aviation were inspecting the dispersal of funds by the NCAA, according to the Committee Chairman, Nnolim Nnaji.
Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika recently disclosed that local airlines owed NGN19.37 billion (USD50.9 million) in unremitted ticket sales charges and NGN2.7 billion (USD7.1 million) in cargo sales charges, both collected on behalf of the NCAA, the Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), the Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NIMET), the Nigeria College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), and the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB).
Nuhu noted that between now and 2024,...
11.12.2020 - 08:58 UTC
Nigeria's Arik Air (W3, Lagos), currently in receivership, has announced the resumption of normal flight operations after resolving what it called an “impasse” with the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) claiming that “the incessant union unrest has finally been put behind us”.
The airline in a statement said normal schedules had resumed after striking NUATE members on December 3 and 4 had disrupted the airline's flights and operations, preventing passengers' processing at the domestic terminals of Lagos. The employees responded to the airline's sacking of 300 employees last week because of the impact of COVID-19.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that placard-carrying members of NUATE and the Air Transport Senior Staff Services Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) had also blocked the entrance of the airline’s head office in Lagos. The unions alleged that several staff members had been furloughed for too long and that pensions were being owed.
NUATE General-Secretary Aba Ocheme confirmed to Punch newspaper that the strike had been suspended pending negotiations with Arik Air management this week. He...
17.11.2020 - 06:30 UTC
The Nigerian government is to reopen Kano and Port Harcourt Omagwa for international flights to relieve congestion at Lagos and Abuja, which already reopened to foreign traffic in September.
Nigerian media reports this was disclosed by Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) Director-General Musa Nuhu while briefing a daily presidential taskforce meeting on COVID-19 in Abuja on November 12, 2020. Nuhu did not mention a date for the re-opening. He said Nigeria’s Coalition Against COVID-19 (CACOVID) was working to resolve 24-hour port health arrangements at the two airports. Once this was finalised, both Kano and Port Harcourt would resume international operations.
Nigeria has been re-opening its airports in phases, starting in July and August with domestic operations, followed by international flights from Lagos and Abuja on September 5, 2020.
According to the ch-aviation schedules module, Badr Airlines (J4, Khartoum) and Mid Africa Aviation (MFG, Banjul) used to codeshare (flight J4 650) between Khartoum and Kano twice-weekly, although Mid Africa Aviation's Air Operators Certification has reportedly expired....
06.11.2020 - 09:24 UTC
Nigeria’s government on November 2, 2020, approved a NGN4 billion naira (USD10.3 million) bailout for domestic airlines to mitigate the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This was announced by Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika during a three-day public hearing in Abuja on the repeal and enactment of civil aviation bills aimed at enhancing the operations of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB), the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET), and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).
Sirika said the government had also approved an additional NGN1 billion (USD2.5 million) in funding to aviation agencies to “cushion the sorry state of most of them, which has made payment of salaries difficult for many of them". He added all funds would be released soon.
Aviation Senate Committee Chairperson, Smart Adeyemi, said the amount earmarked for airlines was insufficient and urged the federal government to budget for more.
Nevertheless, it would have been welcome news for Nigeria's beleaguered carriers, many of whom...
