Year 2018 has become part of history now with 2019 becoming a new bride that every discerning mind is attempting to woo or lure for the purpose of making the year worth the while after all.
In other words, though ten days gone in the new year, people are still taking stock to see what they did wrong in 2018 to enable them right the wrongs and make 2019 a more glorious and profitable one.
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Without any doubt, all class of Nigerians including the business class, the government and even an average man walking on the street that is normal are all taking stocks to make amends.
This idea of taking stocks must definitely not leave out all key players across the country’s aviation sector vis a vis how the sector transpired in the immediate past year and the role played by all relevant stakeholders.
The stakeholders include: aviation agencies who regulate activities, make the airports infrastructure comfortable for users, make flight operations safe and secured through the standard navigational equipments installed at the airports, the airlines and other service providers.
However, the number one key player is the federal government which is responsible for providing the enabling environment that will make efforts of the airlines in particular seamless and profitable. Prior to this time and even up to last year, domestic airline business was at its lowest ebb with most of the domestic airlines getting choked up with myriad of challenges that confronted them.
Among such challenges with their over spiraling effects ravaging the airlines include: the unfriendly policies of government which have made domestic airline business almost impossible, expensive price of aviation fuel, unstable exchange rate, unlimited taxation to undue opportunities granted the foreign airlines at the expense of the domestic carriers.
Agreed that many of the domestic airlines are responsible for their woeful performance in view of their failure to run the airlines in line with the rules guiding the business as many of them lacked the understanding of what entails to run airline business. Sadly, even the subsequent governments had failed to live up to expectations of cushioning the effects of the various challenges.
Apart from putting its house in order by reviewing the unfriendly policies key players had complained about for the purpose of making the domestic airlines more effective on the local scene, even the few designated on regional and international routes have been abandoned to their fate.
All these are going on while the same government pampers the foreign airlines as it continues to sign more frequencies for them and at the same time lay the entire blame on the airlines.
Having said all these, all hope is not lost as a new year has just set in. While all stakeholders including the airlines need to review their roles, the federal government has a long role to play in making the domestic scene more friendly and seamless for the few indigenous airline operators who have chosen to remain in the business as risky as it is.
Such areas that need government’s intervention on the domestic scene are: the too many taxes the airlines are subjected to, the exorbitant price of aviation fuel and unstable exchange rate.
On the international and regional routes, government should through the ministries of foreign affairs, transportation and trade engage in aero politics for the purpose of protecting the Nigerian airlines designated on those routes.
It is on record how some of the foreign airlines operating into Nigeria are colluding with their home governments to frustrate Nigerian carriers that are designated to fly to their countries.
The need for government to seriously engage in the international aero politics becomes obvious in the sense that governments across the world are neck deep in the over protectionism of their airlines as they know that the comfort of the airlines wherever they fly into also means more money coming into their coffers.
Designating airlines is not just the issue but ensuring such airlines are not muzzled out by the foreign countries over flimsy excuses under the guise of over protectionism.
No serious government worth its salt will watch other countries frustrate efforts of its indigenous carrier when airlines from such countries enjoy unlimited privileges here.
The need to do the right things for the domestic carriers become pertinent as any attempt to ignore the local airlines this new year may spell doom for domestic airline business and subsequently private investments.
and then