Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has hit the ground running with hands-on interventions in the troubled aviation sector.
But concerned stakeholders said there is room for more to attain desired stability and sectoral growth, JOKE FALAJU reports.
True to type, the Minister set the ball rolling with a pocket of interventions that touched the airports, airline operators, regulatory agencies and service providers. Besides the Central Bank of Nigeria defraying foreign airlines’ stuck fund some months ago, the administration also assisted local airlines in taking advantage of the Bilateral Air Service Agreement rights, ensuring Nigerian airlines get reciprocal rights to fly globally, beginning with Air Peace airlines.
Mshelia gave instance of how the minister was able to stop activities of illegal chatter operators that have been sabotaging the industry for a very long time. “RwandAir is flying into Terminal Four and that terminal is 10 times better than Terminal Three. This is one other good thing that the minister has done and he should be commended for his stance,” Mshelia said.
Other stakeholders harped on the need for Keyamo to reduce routine travels overseas; rather, to sit and address myriads of challenges bedevilling local airlines, especially multiple tariffs by aviation agencies, high foreign exchange rates, low capacity by domestic airlines to meet the demand rate, and lack of access to credit facilities at the single-digit interest rate.
“We need to grow our fleet. We need to increase our capacity and for that reason, we need to have access to single-digit loans. We have not asked the government to give us grants. We go to the market to compete for commercial loans at a 35 per cent interest rate, and we don’t have access to the window of foreign exchange. For over a year now, we have not bid in the open market and when you access it, the rate is very high and it makes it very difficult for domestic airlines to compete.
Ohunayo said: “America has such a system in Part 135 and Part 121. Part 135 is for the smaller aircraft so we are looking at something like that to be in place so that we will have a new set of operators that will tap into general aviation and airports that have been abandoned.Before flagging, please keep in mind that Disqus does not moderate communities. Your username will be shown to the moderator, so you should only flag this comment for one of the reasons listed above.
Bola Ahmed Tinubu Festus Keyamo NCAA
Malaysia Latest News, Malaysia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Your concerns have been noted – Keyamo calls for calm as aviation workers threaten strikeThe Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo, has appealed to workers' unions in the ministry to suspend their planned industrial action. DAILY POST recalls that aviation workers across the country on Thursday announced their readiness to embark on strike and nationwide protests beginning from August 21, 2024.
Read more »
Keyamo begs aviation workers to shelve planned protestThe Latest news in Nigeria and world news. The Guardian Nigeria Newspaper brings you the latest headlines, opinions, political news, business reports and international news.
Read more »
Keyamo to aviation workers: Don't go on strike, your demands will be consideredFestus Keyamo, minister of aviation and aerospace development says the demands made by aviation workers will be given due consideration.
Read more »
Stop interfering in aviation matters, stakeholders tell ministerAviation stakeholders have submitted that the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, miscalculated by grounding Arik Air over a $2.5 million debt, noting that the Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) has an interest in the acquisition of assets of the airline.
Read more »
Stop interfering in aviation matters, stakeholders tell ministerAviation stakeholders have submitted that the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, miscalculated by grounding Arik Air over a $2.5 million debt, noting that the Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) has an interest in the acquisition of assets of the airline.
Read more »
Arik Air kicks as NAMA grounds aircraft over $2.5m debtArik Air has expressed displeasure over the grounding of its operations by the Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo, without prior notice.
Read more »