The Skyway Aviation Handling Company (SAHCO) has announced that it would invest at least an additional N2 billion in Ground Support Equipment (GSE) in the 2022 financial year.
The company equally declared that the compliance level among indigenous and foreign airlines on the new threshold safety handling rates approved for it in 2021 by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), has reached 80 to 90 per cent compliance.
Speaking at the 12th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the ground handling company, in Lagos, Chairman SAHCO, Dr Taiwo Afolabi, said the handling company had already acquired the GSE, which would be deployed for use very soon, adding that some of the equipment were also still being imported and would land in the country soon.
He reiterated the plans of the company to be the leading player in the sub-sector, stressing that despite the challenges bedevilling the entire aviation industry, especially the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic, SAHCO had been consistent with its shareholders by paying dividends in the 2020 and 2021 financial years.
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His words: “Be rest assured that the COVID-19 pandemic affected us and more so, air transport is very important in the economy. The restriction on international travel affected us. We are trying to see how we can surpass last year’s profit in terms of profitability.
“What we focus on is how to develop human capital to meet up the standard. We are doing our best to boost our infrastructure to attract over clientele. The market is so saturated but by next year, we will be doing more.
“We are bringing in more equipment to support our growth. Next year, we will be investing more to get more businesses to our side. We remain focused. Our projections are growing. In the area of assets, this will give us more leverage above our competitors. We are looking at the assets that we have acquired, which are going to help us.”
For the Managing Director of SAHCO, Mr Basil Agboarumi, there has been tremendous compliance by airlines on the recently approved new threshold safety handling rates by NCAA.
According to Agboarumi, despite the initial kicks by operators, especially among the foreign carriers, the compliance level had reached about 80 to 90 per cent and hoped that others still reluctant to comply would do so very soon.
The new handling rates are between $1,500 and $5,000 (passenger and cargo flights) for narrow and wide-body aircraft on international routes, respectively, while for domestic operators, it was increased to N25,000 and N70,000, depending on the aircraft type.
Narrow-body aircraft include Boeing B737, Airbus A320, ER 135 and ATR, while wide-body aircraft are B767, A330, B777, B747 and B787.
Before the current approval, the last time handling rates were reviewed in Nigeria was in 1986 and the international airlines were still paying as low as $400 to handle narrow-body aircraft, while they were charged between $1,000 and $1,200 for wide-body aircraft.