Travels - Business Metrics

Aviation professionals petition minister over N120bn pension fund

Jan 12, 2021 Ugochi Emmanuel

Aviation professionals petition minister over N120bn pension fund The Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals (ANAP) has expressed concern over the inability of workers at the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to access their over N120 billion pension funds as a result of poor documentation. The situation has been heightened by the devastating effects of COVID-19 that has wreaked havoc leading to dwindling revenue in the aviation agency. The association said that workers would not fold their arms and watch their revenue nose diving after the havoc wrecked by…

Murtala Mohammad Airport records 551,380 passengers in five months

Jan 12, 2021Jan 12, 2021 Banjo Olaniran

Murtala Mohammad Airport records 551,380 passengers in five months The Murtala Mohammad Airport, Ikeja, domestic terminal, recorded a total of 551,380 passenger movements (landing and take-off) between July and December 2020. Speaking in an interview with journalists, the Terminal Manager of the airport, Mr Adekunle Aderibigbe, said passenger numbers were impressive despite the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the statistics released, inbound passengers recorded 270,828 while departures stood at 280,552 passengers. He said that 3,068 aircraft landed at the airport between July and December 2020 while 3,193…

Global air freight market remains depressed, says AITA

Jan 11, 2021Jan 11, 2021 Banjo Olaniran

Global air freight market remains depressed, says AITA Expects full recovery by March 2021 The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has released data for global air freight markets for the last two months, showing that freight volumes improved compared to three months but remain depressed compared to 2019. According to the global airlines’ regulator, capacity remained constrained from the loss of available belly cargo space as passenger aircraft remain parked on account of the Covid -19 pandemic . Global demand, according to IATA, which is measured in cargo tonne-kilometers…

How aviation firms shared N5bn bailout fund, says document

Jan 6, 2021Jan 6, 2021 Banjo Olaniran

How aviation firms shared N5bn bailout fund, says document Exactly N4,995,999,999.90 was disbursed to the aviation industry following the N5bn COVID-19 palliative the Federal Government pledged to support the sector. According to a document obtained by our correspondent, ground handling companies, scheduled and non-scheduled airline operators; the National Association of Travel Agencies, aviation fuel marketers as well as airport car hire services partook from the fund. Scheduled operators received N3 billion with five per cent deduction for the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), the Nigeria Airspace Management Agency…

South African govt urged to divert $680m aviation fund for vaccine

Dec 30, 2020Dec 30, 2020 Banjo Olaniran

South African gov’t urged to divert $680m aviation fund for vaccine South Africa’s political opposition is urging the country’s finance minister, Tito Mboweni, to abandon the R10 billion ($680 million) funding plan to restructure South African Airways and plough the capital into a vaccination programme. The Democratic Alliance has written to Mboweni claiming that the government should “divert” the SAA allocation to procuring vaccines against the coronavirus outbreak. According to the Democratic Alliance the R10 billion funding package could acquire some 23 million doses of the vaccine, enough for…

COVID-19 Guideline Violation: NCAA to fine airlines $3,500/passenger

Dec 28, 2020 Omobayo Azeez

COVID-19 Guideline Violation: NCAA to fine airlines $3,500/passenger The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has vowed to fine airlines $3,500 for each passenger that refuses to adhere to the new travel protocols announced by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19. In a letter addressed to all airlines and signed by the NCAA Director-General, Capt Musa Nuhu on December 26th, NCAA directed passengers flying from the United Kingdom and South Africa to present a pre-departure permit to fly/ QR Code and a negative COVID-19 PCR test result done within 96…

FG mulls travel ban over COVID-19 new strain

Dec 22, 2020 Umar Suleiman

FG mulls travel ban over COVID-19 new strain Worried by the mutated strain of COVID-19 in the United Kingdom, the Federal Government says it may impose a travel ban to and from certain parts of the world. The News Agency of Nigeria reported that the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, disclosed this on Monday in Abuja at a special forum organised by the agency. Mohammed, a member of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, said while the government appreciated the negative economic impact of another…

Aviation sector contributes $1.7bn to economy – Olateru

Dec 9, 2020 Umar Suleiman

Seeks tourism, air transport synergy The Nigerian aviation sector contributed at least $1.7 billion and created 341,000 direct jobs to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) before the advent of Covid-19 pandemic, which crippled the world’s economy, Akin Olateru, Commissioner, Accident Investigation Buerau (AIB) has said. The AIB helmsman also called for effective collaboration between air transport and tourism industry, saying the two sectors needed each other to thrive and developed the nation’s economy. Presenting a paper: ‘Best Practices in Civil Aircraft Accident Prevention and Investigation for Sustainable Development of…

Qatar begins flights to Abuja, invests in fuel-efficient planes

Dec 1, 2020 Umar Suleiman

Qatar Airways has commenced flight services to the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja in a three weekly frequency from Doha. This becomes the carrier’s sixth new destination by the national carrier of the State of Qatar since the start of the pandemic. The Abuja service will be operated by the airline’s state-of-the-art Boeing 787 Dreamliner featuring 22 seats in Business Class and 232 seats in Economy Class. Qatar Airways Vice-President, Africa, Mr. Hendrik Du Preez, said: “We are excited to land in the capital of Nigeria today, our second destination…

Africa’s aviation sky could clear before other markets; expert explains why

Dec 1, 2020 Ugochi Emmanuel

The global health crisis continues to take its toll on the aviation industry, creating uncertainty for airlines around the world. However, the African market is primed to be well-positioned for recovery. A former Africa World Airlines (AWA) COO, Sean Mendis, spoke about how carriers across the continent would fare following the pandemic. Notably, African governments and airlines had to improvise on a home-grown solution, and they began to do that by June 2020 with a travel testing regime. Over 40 African countries have now been able to open their borders…