Nigeria's Aviation News Headlines for July 28, 2016

Buhari Orders Immediate Repair of Abuja Airport Runway(Punch)

President Muhammadu Buhari has given an order for the immediate repair of the failed portions of the runway of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, the Minister of State for Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, has said.

This is coming as the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, declared that despite the scarcity of aviation fuel, known as Jet-A1, Nigerians should know that the commodity had been liberalised by the Federal Government.

Both ministers spoke at the VIP lounge of the NAIA on Wednesday before an inspection tour by Sirika.

The Aviation minister told journalists that the Abuja airport runway was actually due for reconstruction 14 years ago, but nothing tangible was done on the facility, which led to the breakdown of some portions.

He stated that he had to shut down the affected portions of the runway in order to avert disaster, a development that made it impossible for some aircraft to land at the airport during the period.

Sirika, however, stated that the portions that were shut had been reopened as maintenance and repairs had been effected, adding that the President had approved the interim repair of the runway as well a major reconstruction of it in the near future.

“Mr. President has directed that there should be an immediate repair on the runway in the short term,” he said.

Sirika said there had not been any major repair of the Abuja airport runway since it was constructed in 1982.

“Ordinarily, the runway is to last for only 20 years, but since the 20 years elapsed in 2002, no serious repairs had been carried out on it,” he said.

The minister further stated that the Federal Government could not continue to fund the nation’s airports, adding that it had resolved to adopt the Public-Private Partnership model for the development of the facilities.

http://punchng.com/buhari-orders-immediate-repair-abuja-airport-runway

 

Why FG Should Urgently Tackle Scarcity of Aviation Fuel(Tribune)

 For some time now, air travelers particularly those on the domestic scene have been subjected to hardship inflicted on them by the non-availability of aviation fuel and the subsequent flight delay and cancellation by the domestic airlines.

While many of the passengers have become miserable with the unstable situation, the airlines are at the receiving end with passengers mounting pressure on them even as they go in search of Jet A1, the other name for aviation fuel.

Some of the airlines had raised the alarm of how the commodity has continued to be unavailable despite the astronomical price the oil marketers sell it.

Presently, the product is selling for as high as N180 per litre in Lagos while it sells for between N195 and N200 in other places like Abuja and Kano.

Arik Air had in the past weeks cried out over the negative effects the non-availability of the commodity has on its operations which the management claimed if not tackled urgently may hinder the operations of the airline.

According to the airline, since the beginning of this year, Nigeria has been grappling with inadequate supply of aviation fuel leading in most cases to severe shortage of the product and consequently the disruption of flight operations.

Dana Air is another domestic operator that has complained about the scarcity of aviation fuel which it said had not really helped its flight services to the flying public.

Just like the two, Medview Airline though has not cancelled or delayed its flights based on the agreement the airline has with its oil marketer.

While the airline is sacrificing so much to keep its operations ongoing, it is doing so at a great expense of having to buy the commodity at a very high rate.

Unfortunately, the rate at which the airlines are being forced to delay or cancel their flights with passengers getting agitated across the airports is heating up the challenges confronting the sector.

http://tribuneonlineng.com/fg-urgently-tackle-scarcity-aviation-fuel

 

Air Côte d’Ivoire Expands its Airbus Fleet(Tribune)

Air Côte d’Ivoire, Ivory Coast’s national airline has signed a firm order for the purchase of an additional A320neo to complete its fleet.

The order was signed at the just concluded Farnborough Air Show in United Kingdom.

Air Côte d’Ivoire already distinguished itself in the spring by becoming the first African airline to order the A320neo.

Reacting to the development, the Chairman of the airline board, General Abdoulaye Oulibaly said: “This additional A320neo will allow Air Côte d’Ivoire to truly differentiate its product by offering a higher level of comfort to its customers with new aircraft. Thanks

to this new Airbus aircraft, Air Côte d’Ivoire will also improve its operating efficiency to better meet the need for traffic growth.”

For John Leahy, Airbus Chief Operating Officer, Customers, “This vote of confidence from Air Côte d’Ivoire is further proof of the rapid traffic growth in Africa, and of the leading role that this dynamic airline aims to play in the development of air transport onthis continent. Airbus is delighted to contribute to this.”

http://tribuneonlineng.com/air-cote-divoire-expands-airbus-fleet

Mysterious Zika Infections in Florida(New Telegraph)

Health officials in Florida are investigating four cases of Zika that do not appear to be related to travel.
So far cases outside of Latin America and the Caribbean, where the virus is prevalent, have been spread by travel to that region or sexual transmission.
The four Florida cases have raised the possibility that mosquitoes in the US have begun to carry the virus.
Zika causes only a mild illness in most people but the virus has been linked to severe brain defects in newborns.
Florida officials say they have not drawn any conclusions and are still looking into how the virus was transmitted.
The four cases were detected in the Miami-Dade and Broward counties.
To confirm whether Zika is being carried by mosquitoes locally, scientists will survey houses and people within a 150-yard (metre) radius of the cases, the flying radius of the insect.
US experts were baffled last week by another case, in Utah, in which a carer caught Zika after tending to a dying elderly man with the virus, reports the BBC
And earlier this week, a Spanish woman infected with Zika gave birth to a baby boy with the brain disease microcephaly, thought to be the first such birth in Europe.
https://newtelegraphonline.com/mysterious-zika-infections-florida

 

FG Shuts Nine Foreign Missions, Rationalises Staff(DailyTrust)

The Federal Government has approved the closure of nine foreign missions and their conversion to non-residency representation or concurrent accreditation, Daily Trust findings have shown.

The closure, our reporters gathered, is part of measures to reduce the cost of running Nigeria’s foreign representations in line with the economic situation.

The affected missions are those whose absence portend no serious bilateral or diplomatic effect sources said.  They include the Permanent Mission to the D-8 in Istanbul, Turkey; the Africa-South America Cooperation Forum (ASACOF) in Caracas, Venezuela;

embassies in Belgrade, Serbia; Colombo, Sri Lanka; Kiev, Ukraine; Prague, Czech Republic; the High Commission in Singapore as well as Consulates in Buea, Cameroon and Sao Paulo in Brazil.

Also approved for rationalisation is the number of officers at foreign missions, estacode for local travels and award of honorary consuls.

The government also ordered that posting staff of home ministries to foreign missions should be discontinued, while Foreign Service officers should be trained to carry out multiple tasks including administration, immigration, trade, culture and education related

functions.

Daily Trust learnt that the rationalisation exercise will affect all 119 Nigeria’s foreign missions.

Apart from 35 missions, the government directed that all other missions should be run by an ambassador and not more than three home-based staff.  The level of local staffing, it said, must be controlled.

A letter from the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari, addressed to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama dated June 8, 2016, said the practice of violating staffing ceilings for each mission must be stopped and corrective measures be put

in place. Consequently, it said, there should be a review of the staff strength necessary for each mission.

http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/news/general/fg-shuts-nine-foreign-missions-rationalises-staff