Nigeria's Aviation News Headlines for Wednesday August 3, 2016
Nigeria’s Aviation Fuel Price up 100% as Ghana Reduces Price by 20%(Businessday)
While the government of Ghana has promised to reduce the cost of aviation fuel by 20 percent, domestic airlines in Nigeria are grappling with aviation fuel scarcity, which has spiked over 100 percent in recent times.
The government of Ghana says that the move is part of efforts by government to make Ghana’s aviation sector attractive to investors.
Aviation fuel is central to the operations of an airline, as it constitutes between 35 – 40 percent of an airline’s cost.
According to President of Ghana John Mahama, “We have consulted with the national petroleum authority and the national petroleum authority has agreed to adjust the cost of aviation fuel and reduce it by 20 percent. I am sure this will improve the volumes that
the airlines take and make Ghana a prepared destination for fuelling up.”
However, despite the current economic downturn and scarcity of foreign exchange, domestic airlines in Nigeria are grappling with aviation fuel scarcity and its price, which has increased from N120 per litre to N250 per litre.
Meanwhile, five major airlines operating in Nigeria – Arik Air, Medview, Dana, First Nation and Aero – were forced to hike fares by an average of 35 percent recently following the scarcity of Jet A1, also known as aviation fuel.
Analysts say airfares may jump yet again on the back of soaring inflation, which climbed to 16.5 percent in June (year-on-year), the highest since 2005.
https://businessdayonline.com/nigerias-aviation-fuel-price-up-100-as-ghana-reduces-price-by-20
AON Denies Government Funding of Airlines(Thisday)
The
Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) has debunked reports that government has been
funding Nigerian airlines, insisting that domestic airlines in the country did
not get any form of funding from the government in the past 30 years when the
deregulation of the
industry
was introduced in 1983.
The
operators said this is contrary to widely held beliefs, opinions and
publications in the media in recent past that they were given an intervention
fund by the federal government.
The
Chairman of AON, Capt. Nogie Meggison noted that domestic airlines in the
country are privately owned establishments and have been funded solely by their
owners without any form of injection of funds by the federal government.
He
said the airlines have approached banks to source for funds like any other
highly capital intensive private entity doing business in Nigeria and employing
Nigerians, so airlines are free to approach the banks for loans which are
serviced regularly at stipulated
interest
rates.
Arik
Air Wins at Ghana Aviation Awards (Daily Times)
Nigeria’s
flag carrier airline, Arik Air, has won another accolade with the award of West
African Airline of the Year bestowed on it at the Ghana Aviation Awards 2016
held in Accra on Friday, July 29, 2016. The award, according to Ghana Aviation
Awards Events
Director,
Richard Abbey Jnr., was conferred on Arik Air because of its achievement in
airline business leadership and commitment to safety. The impressive award
ceremony held at Movenpick Ambassador Hotel, Accra, was a gathering of the
cream of aviation
personalities
in West Africa and a celebration of excellence in the industry. The West
African Airline of the Year Award is a crowning glory for Arik Air’s eight
years of operation in Ghana and the rest of the region which began with the
inauguration of flights to Accra
in January 2008.
MedView Switches to B747 on Lagos-London Route(Daily Trust)
Med-view Airline has made a switch of
aircraft on its Lagos to London-Gatwick route after taking delivery of a
B747-400 aircraft with a 463-passenger capacity.
The
airline switched from the smaller B767-300ER earlier devoted for the route.
The aircraft was
operated for the first time on its scheduled flight from London-Gatwick with
400 passengers on board on Monday.
The aircraft
switch and subsequent operation was approved by the British Civil Aviation
Authorities in line with standard practice in civil aviation.
It would be recalled
that the airline opened up the London route on November 20, 2015.
The 463 passenger
aircraft arrived the Murtala Mohammed International airport on Monday morning,
it was learnt.
Med-View Airline
managing director/CEO, Alhaji Muneer Bankole, said the aircraft would be used
to consolidate the Lagos-London route operations as well as the Hajj
operations.
Represented by the
director of Engineering, Engr. Lookman Animashaun, Bankole disclosed that the
new aircraft signalled the opening up of the transatlantic route being proposed
by the airline.
He added that a
B777-200 will join the fleet this week to coincide with the airline’s 10th
anniversary since it commenced Hajj operations.
The MD said three jumbo jets -
B777-200, B747-400 and B767-300ER - would be devoted to the 2016 Hajj
operations, slated to begin August 8.
Ilorin Airport Handles 36,805 Passengers, 1, 316 Aircraft In 6
Months(Leadership)
The Ilorin International Airport handled a total of
36,805 passengers and 1,316 aircraft between January and June 2016, its
Manager, Alhaji Abubukar
Mohammed,
said on Tuesday.Mohammed disclosed this in llorin during an interview with the
News Agency of Nigeria(NAN).He said the figures recorded were an indication of the remarkable progress in commercial activities at the airport.
Mohammed said the management of the airport will continue to work to increase its number of passengers and flights.
In January, we recorded a total of 5,575 passengers and 202 aircraft; February had 5,936 passengers and 210 aircraft, while March had 6,836 passengers and 236 aircraft,’’ he said.
In April, we had 7129 passengers and 232 aircraft; May recorded 6,379 passengers and 242 aircraft, while 4,950 passengers and 194 aircraft used the airport in June,’’ he added.
The Manager identified the scarcity of aviation fuel as a major challenge facing the airport, which he said usually led to flight delays and cancellations.
Mohammed disclosed that the airport management had started wooing more airline operators to the airport, so as to connect other cities in the country to Ilorin.
Rwand Air to Offer Nigerian
Passengers Generous Baggage Allowance(Thisday)
East African carrier, Rwand Air has offered a new incentive to Nigerian
passengers with generous bag allowance as it plans to connect flight services
between Lagos and its hub in Kigali into Far Eastern routes including Mumbai in
India and Guangzhou in China.
This was disclosed by the airline’s Country Manager, Ms. Ibiyemi Odusi
at the weekend.
Odusi said part of the reasons why the airline decided to operate into
these routes was to bridge the services of other airlines operating on the
routes because Nigerian travellers need more airlines on those routes, adding
that the airline would deploy a bigger
aircraft on the routes to give passengers value for their money.
Volcanic Eruptions in Indonesia Hit Air Travel(Guardian)
Volcanic
eruptions in Indonesia in recent days have forced the closure of two airports
and disrupted some flights to the holiday island of Bali, officials said
Wednesday.
Mount Gamala
on the eastern island of Ternate erupted early Wednesday after a moderate
earthquake in the area, sending ash up to 600 metres (1,900 feet) into the air
and closing the island’s airport, said the national disaster agency.“People are advised to stay calm,” said agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, adding that authorities were not yet planning evacuations.
The airport on Lombok was closed overnight from Monday to Tuesday due to a drifting ash cloud from erupting Mount Rinjani, causing the cancellation of 29 domestic and international flights to the resort island
http://guardian.ng/news/volcanic-eruptions-in-indonesia-hit-air-travel
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