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Air Peace suffered 26 bird strikes in five months — Onyema

Chairman of Air Peace, Mr Allen Onyema, has said the airline suffered 26 bird strike incidents between February and June, with an average of five bird strikes monthly while also losing aircraft engines to some of the incidents.

Onyema revealed this while speaking at a webinar organised by Messrs Olisa Agbakoba Legal (OAL) on the topic ‘Repositioning the Aviation Sector for Revenue Generation and Growth: The Role of the Legislation.’

He said the replacement of airline engines damaged as a result of a bird strike could cost between $2 million and $3 million, depending on the aircraft type.

Onyema said such bird strike incidents disrupt operations of the airline, while maintaining that it is not the duty of airlines to chase birds at the airports.

He said, “Air Peace had 26 bird strikes between February and June this year. In fact, on the average, we suffer about five bird strikes every month. There was a day we had two bird strikes. It is not the duty of the airlines to chase birds at the airports.

“If an engine is damaged in the process by the bird, that engine, depending on the type of aircraft, can cause you between $2 million and $3 million. If it happened to a Boeing 777 aircraft for instance and damaged its engine, it could cost you about $10 million.

“However, bird strike may not damage the engine, it might damage some things that you need to change in the engine, but in all, the most important thing to take away from bird strike is the fact that it grounds your operations immediately because you are not certain if that aircraft is not affected.

“You need engine expert to look at the engine. By doing that, the aircraft is grounded and your schedule is disrupted and you won’t fly.”

In a goodwill message at the webinar, Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr Festus Keyamo, expressed the willingness of the Federal Government to collaborate with investors to develop the sector.

He stressed that for the sector to actualise its agenda, the government wants investors to leverage the opportunities in the sector to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Joint-Venture Partnerships (JVPs) with heads of international economic organisations, presidents of transnational corporations and principals of leading privately-owned enterprises.

Keyamo assured that the ministry would continue to play its critical role of effective policy formulation and implementation of the government›’s progammes for the sector by providing aviation infrastructural services and other needs for the sector.

To achieve this mandate, he said the ministry had already developed an aviation road master plan, which defined what the government needed to do to achieve its objectives.

“It is also instructive to state that upon assumption of office, I have reviewed the progress made so far viz-a vis the existing gaps. Accordingly, we are already looking at focus areas, which are encapsulated in a five-point agenda, namely: strict compliance with national laws and regulations and international obligations; improvement and development of infrastructure for passenger convenience; support for the growth and sustenance of local airline businesses; human capacity development and optimisation of revenue generation.

“As the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, I am deeply committed to these agenda. In these challenging times, characterised by evolving market dynamics and global uncertainties, the need to reposition our aviation sector for sustainable growth has never been more pressing. It requires vision, resilience, finances and collaboration.”

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