Nigerian airlines under the aegis of Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) has announced that they have lost over N20 billion to flight delays and cancellations just as it has lost N24 billion to bird strike amounting to N44billion lost last year.
This is coming even as the body has kicked against the continuous multiple entry points granted to foreign airlines operating in the country which the operators said was hindering their operations.
Speaking at a press conference organized by the operators on Wednesday, the Vice President of AON! Mr Allen Onyema also condemned the series of attacks on airline workers and facilities across the country’s airports by aggrieved passengers over flight delays and cancellations.
Onyema who said the opposition of the domestic airline operators to multiple designations was directed particularly to the ones recently granted to Qatar Airways and Ethiopian Airlines, lamented how such grant will stagnate local operators.
His words: “If we continue to encourage that it will continue to deplete national treasury and also deplete the growth of local airlines. The capital flight is unimaginable”.
Commenting on the recent flight delays, Onyema declared: “aircraft on the ground, which is a huge loss to operators and impacts negatively on the economy of our dear country, is, however, mostly, for safety and so many reasons outside the control of operators. For this reason, AON has been at the front of seeking more effective ways to mitigate factors that cause flight delays and huge economic losses to the country.
He attributed the causes of flight delays and cancellations to bad weather, passengers not being aware, lack of adequate check-in counters at airports, lack of aircraft parking space etc.
He equally stated that the local airlines are faced with the challenges of cost of Jet A1, availability of forex, Customs protocol, multiple taxation and charges, sunset airports, inadequate facilities at airports, birdstrike and others.
On the recent increase in airfares, Onyema said “AON never got together to increase airfares. We debunk that insinuation. The N50, 000 fares had always been there. During December last year, basic fares were N60, 000 to N70, 000. The airline didn’t come together to decide that. It is a matter of unit cost per seat which is the basis of increase”.
The conference was attended by the President of AON, Alhaji Yunusa S. Abdulmunaf, Vice President Allen Onyema and chief executives of nine other local airline operators, including Azman Air, Air Peace, Overland, Aero Contractors, Max Air, Dana Air, Arik Air, United Nigeria Airlines, Medview Airlines, Omni Blu etc.
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