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The Association of Ground Handlers of Nigeria (AGHAN) is calling on the Federal Government to adjust and waive the annual five per cent concession fee for ground handling companies in the country’s aviation sector.
Making this call, the Chairman of AGHAN, Mr Olaniyi Adigun, said the removal of the five per cent concession fee, especially for 2020 financial year became imperative for the survival of the AGHAN members.
Besides making case for the adjustment and removal of five per cent concession fee, the ground handlers equally called for custom duty waivers for the importation of its equipment.
AGHAN used the opportunity to challenge the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to regulate ground handling charges, warning that safety may be compromised if the right policy by the regulatory agency was not put in place.
He said the feat was made possible through the synergy of all stakeholders.
He said, “We do not want to get it wrong and we do not want to have blood on our hands. The primary responsibility of the NCAA is public safety and this is what we must assure through our safety oversight and shared responsibilities with the certified entities and licensed personnel.”
Commissioner of AIB, Engr. Akin Olateru, stressed that aviation remains the safest means of transportation.
Chairman of LAAC, Mr. Olusegun Koiki, stressed the need for continued focus on human factors in air accident investigation since it plays a crucial role in safety in the global aviation sector as it would reduce the rate of accidents.
Chinedu Eze
The Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Capt. Musa Nuhu has restated the commitment of the regulatory agency to work effectively with other service providers to ensure that the Nigerian airspace is safe and that airlines operate airworthy aircraft in order to sustain and improve on existing safety record.
No accident involving scheduled airliner has been recorded in Nigeria since 2013 after the ill-fated Associated Aviation Flight 361, which crashed at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, killing 15 persons on board.
Nuhu said the high safety record would be sustained when there is synergy among industry stakeholders, aviation agencies and airlines, adding that the industry had only recorded one accident with fatalities in the last five years with the Quorum Helicopter crash of 2020, which killed three crew members on board.
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Okechukwu Nnodim
The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria has reached an advanced stage towards launching a multibillion naira airline by pooling together its aviation assets especially planes in debt-ridden Arik Air and Aerocontactors Airlines, findings by
Sunday PUNCH have revealed.
The new international airline, to be named Nigeria Eagle, may take to the sky with at least 10 planes as early as June, according to insiders who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak on the matter.
AMCON is expected to make an official statement on the deal very soon.
It was learnt that AMCON, a Federal Government-owned bad debt manager which owns controlling stakes in both Arik and Aero, chose to establish the new airline as a clever means of wriggling out of the multibillion naira liabilities currently hanging on the two carriers.
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A review of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Safety Report of 2020 has indicated that in 2019, globally, there were a total of One Hundred and Fourteen (114) aviation accidents, six (6) of which were fatal with two hundred and thirty-nine (239) fatalities.
This 2019 global accident rate of 2.9 accidents per million departures is said to be the highest in the previous five years and represents an increase of 12 per cent from the year 2018 figure.
The director-general of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Captain Nuhu Musa, declared this at a conference on ‘Prevention of human factors in air accident occurrences’ organized by the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) in partnership with aviation journalists in Lagos, Friday.