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Ibom Air loses N4.3bn annually

The Chief Operating Officer (COO), Ibom Air, Mr George Uriesi, said domestic airlines lose at least N4.3 billion annually due to their restriction to operate 24 hours flight daily to the airports of their choice.

Uriesi made this known while speaking at the 26th Annual Conference of the League of Airport and Aviation Correspondents (LAAC) on Thursday in Lagos

The theme of the conference is “Sunset Airports: Economic and Safety Implications”.

Sunset Airports are daylight airports, which refer to airports that do not have landing facilities, so airlines can only operate there in the night.

However, there are some of them, including the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, the Margret Ekpo International Airport, Calabar and Benin Airport, where night facilities were installed, including airfield lighting but FAAN has not allowed flights to operate there in the night.

Uriesi informed the conference that the restriction had led to a huge underutilisation of aircraft fleets by the Nigerian airlines as against the global industry standards.

According to Uriesi in his paper, ‘Maximising Runway Utilisation: A Nigerian Airline Perspective,’ the country’s carriers are losing an average of four million naira per flight.

“N12 million in every flight, N360 million in 90 flights and N4.3 billion annually on every flight lost to sunset airport operations.

“They are partly because too many impediments are present in the operating environment that limit airline productivity.

“These include limited runway availability across the domestic network, multiple operational infrastructure deficiencies, poor organizational and many others.”

In a bid to solve the challenge, Uriesi appealed to the government to prioritise airfield infrastructure and provide the necessary Instrument Landing System (ILS).

The airline boss added that accompanied accessories for every airport, while also keeping the aerodromes open to meet the needs of airlines and other users.

Besides, he advised that the government should make current, approved master plans a regulatory requirement for every airport and illegalize non-adherence to the master plans by any organisation.

“Establishing a local aircraft lessor /financing vehicle that would allow for the domiciling of aircraft payments in local currency would make a huge difference to the air transport sector in Nigeria,” he added.

The Chairman of the league, Mr Olusegun Koiki, in his opening address, urged the federal government to urgently come to the financially needs of the ailing domestic operators in the country.

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Ibom Air to expand flight to West, East Africa

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By Anthony Areh

Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom has promised to expand the Ibom Air operations to cover other African countries to boost revenue and economy.

The governor gave the promise in his state-wide broadcast marking the 33rd anniversary of the state, in Uyo on Wednesday.

He said that Ibom Air, which started operation with two aircrafts a year ago, now had a total of five aircrafts in its fleet.

The governor said that plans were underway to expand the operations of the airline to cover West and East African sub-regions.

“In aviation development, we have achieved huge strides. In June last year, Ibom Air began its commercial flight operations with two aircrafts.

“Today, a little over a year after it commenced operations, we have added three almost brand new aircrafts, bringing the total fleet to five.

“Ibom Air has become a national sensation and a testimony to a vision grounded in strategic planning. Just last week, we expanded our route to cover Enugu.

“Plans are afoot to expand our routes to cover our West and East African sub-regions, such as Doula in Cameroons.

“Ibom Air has proved the cynics wrong and it is an achievement every Akwa Ibom indigene should be proud of.

“We are determined to become the aviation hub in the Gulf of Guinea, and our terminal building, on which work is ongoing, promises to be a model in this part of Africa. Work is also ongoing on our MRO facility,” Emmanuel said.

The governor assured the Akwa Ibom people of improved infrastructural development to enhance their standard of living.

He said that the state government had built over 100 classroom blocks in the education sector to improve the standard of teaching and learning in public schools.

Emmanuel said that the state government was optimistic that the Ibom Deep Seaport project would be completed before the end of his administration, adding that government was working hard to ensure cooperation with all the regulatory agencies in fulfillment of this desire.

He commended President Muhammadu Buhari for approving the grant of licence for the Liberty Oil and Gas Free Trade Zone, spanning five local government areas in the state.

The governor urged journalists to be objective in their reportage in order to ensure continuous positive projection of the state to the outside world.

“To our dear compatriots in the fourth estate of the realm, our gallant journalists, I thank you for the cooperation you have extended to my administration since we came on board in 2015.

“I urge you to continue to exercise the utmost level of circumspection and objectivity in your reportage. We do not have any other state to call ours except this blessed land,” he said.

On the 2023 election in the state, the governor said that there was no need to heat up the system with ‘unnecessary and unhelpful agitations’ for the succession plans.

According to him, when the time comes, God will guide and direct the footsteps for 2023.

He said: “Let me use this opportunity to caution all those who may be showing devious political ambitions to refrain from some of the antics which we are already aware of.’’