Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) has said that its decision to challenge the Federal Government, Ethiopian Airlines, and the Ministry of Aviation on the Nigeria Air project in a court of law was not borne out of fear of competition.
Rather, the umbrella body of indigenous airlines in the country said its intent was to ensure fairness, equity, and transparency in all business dealings by the government and private initiatives on the national carrier project.
The Vice Chairman of AON, Mr Allen Onyema, stated this on Wednesday as the guest of the February 2023 edition of the monthly African Airlines Association’s (AFRAA), Sky Connect Leadership Dialogues session, which was organised virtually and monitored by Nairametrics.
AON’s position: When asked if the domestic operators were threatened with a better organised and very serious airline with the prospects of a superior management team, Onyema reiterated that AON would support any national carrier with transparency and accepted norms.
He, however, said he was mindful of contempt of the court hence, would not dwell much on any issue pertaining to Nigeria Air, which is already in the temple of justice for adjudication.
Besides, Onyema insisted that the domestic operators were not lacking in capacity as claimed by some quarters.
For instance, he mentioned the expansion drive of Air Peace Airlines fleet, which included a firm order for 30 brand new aircraft from Boeing and Embraer aircraft manufacturing company, out of which five had arrived already.
He pointed out that within the course of the year, the airline would take delivery of some of the remaining 25 aircraft from Embraer to scale up its capacity in readiness for the various regional and international operations the airline was ready to take on.
The AON Vice President called on AFRAA leadership to wade into Air Peace airline’s funds trapped especially in Cameroon, including some regional destinations like Gambia, Gabon Sierra-Leon, and Togo, where ticket sales are yet to be repatriated in addition to the prohibitive charges from the government of most of the states in West Africa.
What you should know: On partnership among indigenous airlines, Onyema mentioned the Spring Alliance as one of the moves made by domestic operators to move the sub-sector forward.
Six domestic airlines including Air Peace, Azman Air, Max Air, United Nigeria and Dana Air had March 2022 formed a partnership, which made it the first alliance that would emanate from Africa.
He explained that the alliance had improved on-time departure by member airlines, while waste had also been reduced.
Besides, he unveiled plans by the airline to launch Kano-Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt-Kano, and Benin-Port Harcourt routes, stressing that some of its brand new aircraft Embraer 195-E2 would be deployed to the routes.
According to Onyema, the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) supported by African Unions (AU) was targeted at the Nigerian market, while the implementation by several African governments had also been skewed.
He cited Air Peace airline’s experience with a neighbouring African country whose airline was already operating five weekly frequencies to Nigeria.
He alleged that when Air Peace applied to operate direct flights to the country from Nigeria, its government declined to respond to the airline’s request to reciprocate in the spirit of the Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA).