Mobile check - In introduced by Dana Air

Aviation Nigeria

Guests of Dana Air will enjoy quicker and convenient check-in services with the launch of the ‘Roving Agent’, a mobile device which allows guests to be checked-in on arrival at the airport by mobile airline staff.

Strapped with tablet PCs and mini printers, the airline’s mobile check-in agents can now issue boarding passes to guests even before they reach the check-in counter. This new initiative complements the airline’s existing check-in counters and online check-in service.

“What we are offering in roving agents is immense value addition for our guests,” said Obi Mbanuzuo, Dana Air’s Head of Commercial. “With this solution, our mobile check-in agents can quickly access and verify the travel reservation details of guests; book them on their choice of seat and generate boarding passes.”

“Now guests with hand baggage need not wait at the check-in counter to collect their boarding pass; they can simply approach any of our easily recognizable mobile check-in agents on arrival at the airport and then proceed through airport security to the boarding gate,” Mbanuzuo explained.

Source: Daily Trust

Expect Flight Delays, Cancellations – NCAA

Aviation Nigeria

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) Monday alerted airlines and pilots on the dangers inherent in the current harmatan haze being experienced across the country, saying that they must abide by weather report to avert safety breach.

In a circular signed by the Director General of the agency, Dr Harold Demuren, the regulatory body said the call was to alert all pilots on the hazards of harmattan haze and offered guidance to help prevent accidents caused by this weather phenomenon.

“Hazards and operational problems associated with harmattan is comparable to that of heavy fog. Thus, air-to-ground visibility is considerably reduced. Others include poor aerodrome visibility which might fall below the prescribed minima and in severe conditions.”

NCAA also noted that dust haze can blot out runways and markers over wide areas making visual navigation impossible; where terminal visibility falls below the prescribed weather minima, airlines and pilots should flights be delayed, diverted or cancelled.

The authority therefore advised pilots to recognise harmattan haze as a hazard and exercise maximum restraint when the condition is observed or forecast.

“It is therefore mandatory for all pilots to obtain weather briefing from the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) including departure, en-route and destination  weather information prior to flight operations.

“The airlines and their flight crews should keep passengers informed of the situation  and of the potential for flight delays and possible cancellations. Safety considerations  must always be the highest priority,” the agency said.

Early morning flights were disrupted last Friday in the nation’s important cities of Lagos and Abuja as fog reduced visibility to non-flight levels.

Many domestic flights were disrupted and international flights were also affected as Virgin Atlantic Airways rerouted its flight to Lagos to Accra, while Arik Air flight from London to Lagos was diverted to Port Harcourt.

Passengers, who hurried to meet their flights in the morning yesterday, arrived the airports disappointed as the airlines rescheduled their flights from morning to noon, hoping that visibility would improve.

Thousands of passengers massed at the General Aviation Terminal (GAT) and the Murtala Muhammed Airport domestic terminal, known as MMA2,  hoping and waiting for the fog to clear.

Imperatives Of Aviation Infrastructure Reconstruction, A Historical Perspective

By Odunayo G. Bifarin.

In Nigeria it easy for us to dismiss the importance of airport terminals in the scheme of transportation, this is due in part to the stagnant development that characterized air travel over the years.

From the humble beginnings of the first recorded aviation activity in Kano in 1925 when a RAF pilot made a breath- taking but safe landing on the horse race course in Kano, the historic moment went down in history as the first recorded aviation activity in Nigeria.

The dilapidated structures that characterize airport terminals in Nigeria today have diminished over the years from the world class structures they were as at the time of construction almost 40 years ago. It is only proper that we trace the history of aviation in Nigeria, which shows that the earliest known commercial aviation activity in Nigeria is credited to one gentle man, "Bud" Carpenter, who owned the earliest type of the Light aircraft, de Havilland Moth.

Records show that he frequently undertook high-risk flights between Kano and Lagos, using the rail tracks as his guide and piling up extra distance in the process. Unfortunately all this humble gains have been eroded away by years of mismanagement.

In the early 1930s, an enterprising pilot carried a few fare-paying passengers in a seaplane between Lagos and Warri. With the continuation of the annual RPLF flights, aviation activities in Nigeria became quite considerable, creating the need for aerodromes.

Consequently, a representative of the Air Ministry in London visited Nigeria to inspect what could then be appropriately described as "landing grounds". Sites were selected at Maiduguri, Oshogbo, Lagos, Minna, Kano and Kaduna. Wing Commander E. H. Coleman, one of the earliest observers of the evolution of civil aviation in Nigeria described the aerodromes thus:

It must be remembered, however that what was called an aerodrome in those days would by no means meet requirements for even some of the small airplanes of modern times. In the early days it was considered necessary to construct several runways oriented in varying directions to avoid cross wind landings and take-offs, as the older type of tail-wheel aircraft was more prone to swing than the modern nose wheel types.

However, no matter how simplistic these were, they still served the purpose, however in times of increasing air safety and technological advancement Nigerian aviation sector failed to keep up with the gains that innovation had bequeathed to other visionary countries especially during the military years of the 1980s and early 90s. Fast forward to 2012 -it is not a secret knowledge that most of the Nigerian Airports and Terminals were built in the 70s, as such by 2011 they were decayed and in a state of utter dysfunction.

All Airport Users attest to the fact that our Infrastructure was a disgrace and embarrassment to our National pride. Imagine an airport without adequate toilet facilities; this was what Nigerians and foreigners alike had suffered for several years. As such it is remarkable and important the current call for the remodelling and reconstruction of the Industry must be supported in all ramifications.

The Minister of Aviation Stella Oduah must be commended for the giant strides taking to ensure that the projects come on stream immediately, despite the barrage of criticisms that has trailed the flag off the media.

The airports in major cities like Abuja, Lagos, and Port-Hacourt etc are already in the process of enjoying this rejuvenation.

Most importantly this new investment will go a long way in ensuring that Nigeria's air safety record rises to be at par with global best practices. Certainly Nigerian air travellers deserve the very best.

Nigerian Aviation: Time to arrest this capital flight

By Alkasim Abdulkadir

Despite its chequered political history and food crisis Ethiopia is a sterling example of a functional aviation industry, the following recent achievements are the reason for this statement. One of its main businesses -Asky Airlines operates out of Lome-Tokoin airport and travels to 18 countries and has just made Togo its regional hub aside having its headquarters there. Ethiopia Airlines has also made history as the first airline to take delivery of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner and also the first non-Japanese carrier to receive the aircraft. The remarks of Tewolde Gebremariam are worth recounting here “The fact that we are the first airline outside Japan to receive this ultra modern aircraft is an affirmation of our continuing pioneering role in African aviation…”

The aforementioned is exactly what the MD of the defunct Nigerian airways would have said in the late 1970s and ‘80s Nigeria. Despite the extreme turbulence that has characterised the flight of the Nigerian aviation sector statistically it is still one of the most important markets in Africa, especially giving the high business, tourist, and pilgrimage mobility of Nigerians.

The NCAA says about 5 million people make up the passenger traffic at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos; another 4 million pass through the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja while an aggregate of over 7 million travel through all the airports in Lagos. No doubt any aviation investor, who ignores these numbers, will be losing out on a risky but highly viable enterprise.

There’s no need emphasising the loss to our national coffers capital to other countries annually on cost of routine (C – checks) maintenance carried out outside the country. This is due to the fact that we don’t currently have the capacity to conduct these C – checks locally. However, there are facilities for A and B checks. The funds expended by Nigerian pilots on gaining the requisite flying recertification and aircraft simulator training tests can be conserved if some these activities take place here. A classic example is an airline with 3 or 4 aircrafts will need to spend an estimated $450,000 on its pilots; as such some of these investment vistas include running of an aircraft maintenance hangar, establishment of ground handling companies and aviation training schools. Others are running a cabin simulator and flight simulator machines, importation of aircraft parts and navigational aids facilities.

One cannot rule out the multiplier effect of business activities that surround the airport from aviation fuel supply suppliers to haulage companies and catering services We need to understand that an airport goes beyond the operational components of the runway, helipad, control towers, hangars and terminal buildings; but also the components of base operators, seaplane docks and ramps, air traffic control, passenger facilities and other not only aesthetic but functional parts like restaurants, Telecom and bank outlets, lounges and emergency services.

Nigeria must begin to learn viable lessons from other global players take Air Berlin, Germany’s second largest airline, which has approached several airlines to find out whether they would be interested in becoming a strategic investor, amongst those contacted are Etihad Airways, Hainan Airlines and Emirates are understood to be among the companies that have been contacted. This is despite the fact that the company’s equity is currently €368 million and not considered an operating profit.

The federal ministry of Aviation and some of her agencies have embarked on the first phase of a long planned international investment road show this past weekend. The trip will take the team to China, the United States and Canada involving companies in finance and aerospace industries like CSCEC, ICBC, Hauwei, Boeing and Bombardier.

More than ever before there is an urgent need to attract diverse sources of funding for our aviation sector to grow; however it must be emphatically stated that there is an equally important obligation that the Ministry of Aviation must provide the enabling environment for these investments to flourish, the National Assembly must also carry out the legal frameworks that can provide the ambience for the investments platform to bear fruition. Like Harold Demuren of the NCAA said “what is therefore required at this time is abundant political will, adequate legislation and a review of the civil aviation policy to propose cogent guidelines for infrastructural development in all facets including funding”.

Alkasim Abdulkadir is an international freelance journalist and foreign correspondent for CCTV Africa.