The Founder of United Nigeria Airlines and spokesperson of the Airline Operators of Nigeria, Prof Obiora Okonkwo, has lamented the multiple charges by government agencies in the country’s aviation sector, describing the burden on domestic operators as a nightmare.
He called on the Federal Government to urgently wade into the matter to save domestic airline operators.
Okonkwo made this call on Wednesday in Abuja during the celebration of the airline’s 4th anniversary.
However, he noted that the forex policy of President Bola Tinubu and the newly signed Cape Town Convention have helped in reducing the cost of operations in the Nigerian aviation industry.
He said, “I think that the foreign exchange policy of the Tinubu administration has been of tremendous advantage to the airline industry. Before he came into power, it was a nightmare for us to be able to convert the naira to foreign currencies to pay our obligations. We lost a whole lot of contracts.
“We lost a lot of vendors. Because you have your money stuck in naira in the bank, and you don’t get the forex that you need. You can’t even go and help yourself somewhere. So, it’s a different story. You don’t need to track funds like l mentioned for the foreign operators, the government has cleared that, almost a billion US dollars.
“It has opened up a new window for better relationships. Our reputation and integrity in the international aviation industry are better now. So we are happy with it.”
Okonkwo also stated that unruly passengers are posing a challenge to the industry, saying the growing menace has been hinged on delayed flights and cancellations.
The airline owner insisted that delays happen globally, appealing to passengers to be calm and understand their rights and obligations as a flying passenger.
He stated, “I can tell you that another big challenge we have as operators is the passengers. The passengers whom we strive day and night to service and please are the same people who will turn around and become unruly for no just reason. They overemphasized the issues of delays. Delays happen in any part of the world but we need to work together with the press to educate the travelling public about their rights and obligations. We know what we owe them as operators.
“We overbend ourselves as operators to please them. We often do beyond what local flight operators do in any part of the world to satisfy our passengers but despite all that, their attitudes and behaviors put a lot of stress on the operators. Sometimes passengers beat up staff and also equipment is destroyed at the airports.”
The AON official urged the government to create a window for reduced rate loans for airline operators and also reduce multiple charges on operators.
The Anambra state-born businessman explained that “one thing that will help the growth of this industry will be for the government to develop a programme that will give the window access to local operators to a single-digit loan.
“They need to cut down on the charges the operators pay different agencies of government, in all they are about twenty. The margin of this business is very low and if you have to meet all those charges to NCAA, NAMA, FAAN, you are left with nothing. It’s affecting us, we need to have more money to be able to develop, expand and then also improve the working environment for our staff.”
He added that “the government must realize that access to credit is very important to us operators because we are competing with people who have access to loans at 3, 5 per cent maximum, and aviation is a global village and we can’t compete with them with weighty interest.”
The Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of the airline, Osita Okonkwo, couldn’t suppress his joy with the feat achieved by the airline so far, recounting how the airline had opened more routes across the country listing Benin, Kano, and Sokoto as the latest routes of the airline.
According to him, United Nigeria recently renewed its certificate while plans are at an advanced stage for commencement of its regional and international operations.
