The managing director of Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Captain Hamisu Yadudu has pledged that his management will continue to support activities that will portray the organisation in a positive light and bring about increase in passenger traffic.
Yadudu who spoke at the Servicom Networking Meeting held in Calabar Cross Rivers State said Servicom customer service department remained a tool for transformation of organisations.
Noting that the networking event was a great milestone in the organisation’s quest for outstanding service, Yadudu declared: “We should not forget the essence of networking which include interacting with others to exchange information and develop professionally and social contacts.
Therefore, this event is a great opportunity for colleagues and friends to reunite and seek ways to move our various organisation forward.
“It is no longer news that the year 2020 has been a trying one and has tested our mettle in every aspect of our lives. We have learned to rise to this challenge and overcoming it will make the victory much sweeter.”
According to the FAAN MD, the aviation sector played a vital role in facilitating economic growth and development which provided numerous economic and social benefit saying that some of the main economic impacts of aviation arose from its ability to generate employment opportunities, wealth, effectively supporting global business and tourism, especially developing ones, the opportunity to facilitate trade and enable connection in the global supply chain.
The sector he said remained one of the most hit sectors due to the COVID-19 pandemic with a sudden drop in demand for air travel, bringing the airports to a standstill situation coupled with the air traffic reduction, low passenger booking, and travel restrictions imposed by some countries.
Consequent upon this development, he noted that airports have lost take-off and landing fees as well as Passenger Service Charges (PSC) which were the major revenue-generating points of airports.
In her remarks, the general manager Customer Service of FAAN, Mrs Ebele Okoye noted that the COVID-19 outbreak has hit the airports hard which has further stalled development in emerging markets with air travel fallen sharply and has prompted airlines to cut capacity.
She cited Airports Council International (ACI) a global trade group for the world’s airports, there were well over 4,000 airports across the globe with scheduled traffic in (2016) and these generated revenues of $172.2 billion.
In 2017 it was increased by 6.2 per cent. The airport industry has steadily expanded in recent years, driven by strong growth in passenger traffic. In 2019, total trips exceeded 9 billion and increased by 3.4 per cent year by year.
Okoye explained that she personally attached great importance to the networking as it was a valuable opportunity to openly and frankly address issues that concerns operators in SERVICOM.
“It also fosters interaction in practical terms among the MDAs in the aviation industry and SERVICOM presidency. I believe this forum will also enable us to rub minds, exchange views on challenges affecting our work, and strengthen the spirit of teamwork in our midst. Obviously, no MDA can solve the problems of aviation. It takes the collective responsibility of all of us.”
She noted that with the COVID-19 pandemic with its dramatic impact on airport traffic and revenue, it was accompanied by an economic crisis driving lower demands for air travel, reduced passenger traffic worldwide.
Her words: “The drop in passenger traffic almost completely paralysed both aeronautical and non-aeronautical revenues, such as landing charges for aircraft and also security charges. Consequently, a sharp fall in revenues, for FAAN which went as low as 25-30 per cent drop of her pre-COVID-19 revenue, this amounts to N18.9 billion, following a 90 per cent decline in revenue in the first half (H1) of 2020.
“The reality of today’s Service Delivery is that customers are in control. Customers love innovation, and often, at low-cost. In our interaction with them at work let us strive to seek a balanced approach, that would meet and exceed customers’ needs and expectations.”
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