By Gift Olivia Samuel, The Sight News
ABUJA:Ahead of the reopening of the aviation industry Wednesday, stakeholders on Tuesday night met to discuss the level of preparedness and plans that have been put in place to ensure hitch free flights in compliance with the COVID-19 protocols.
In a Zoom webinar organised by the Director General, Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) Captain Musa Nuhu, it was disclosed that airlines are 94.44% prepared; Domestic airports are 87 %; Ground Handlers 75%; Aviation Security >75%; while Air Traffic Organisations(ATOs) and Approved Maintenance Organisations(AMOs) are both above average.
Making his presentation, NCAA General Manager –Air Operator Certification and Surveillance, Engr. Godwin Balang, while speaking on aviation industry preparedess, noted that Air Navigation Service Provider (NAMA) is 91% prepared in Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Port-Harcourt, Owerri and Uyo Airports; while NiMet is 93% prepared in the six airports.
He further stated that the average level of preparedness of the eight (8) scheduled operators namely; Aero Contractor Co. Nigeria Limited; Air Peace Limited; Arik Air Limited, Azman Air, Dana Airlines, Ibom Air, Max Air Limited, and Overland’s Airways Limited is 94.44%.
For Domestic Airports preparedness, he said that Lagos (MMIA GAT & MM2) are both 92.85%, Kano 89%, Port-Harcourt 85%, Abuja, 89%, Uyo 82% while Owerri is the weakest link with 78%.
He added that the idea of the protocols is to ensure safe travels and to also remind people of the public health concept, and urged Nigerians to ensure that the processes in which a lot of efforts were put into developing should be put into practice.
“Airlines should be deliberate on how it will manage risk in this period, it should not be reactive but proactive. Risk assessment should be based on actual content and I implore all to use the guidelines as reality and put them into practice.
“We should get our minds ready for the worst tomorrow, we have issued guidelines but we should go with the mind that it will be rowdy tomorrow so that we do our risk mitigation around that”, he said.
The NCAA DG on his part, noted that the Authority will do its best to control the crowds at the terminals especially the Lagos airport, and urged airlines to provide their schedule to NAMA to avoid delays in landing.
Speaking on enforcement of COVID-19 guidelines inside the aircraft, he stated that it is the duty of the airlines, as NCAA is only there to monitor.
According to him, “One can be denied entry into the the airport terminal or ejected from the flight and so on, we will monitor and anywhere we see gaps, we will take actions. NCAA will not accept impunity and disregard for regulations. It is a collective responsibility and everybody must stand up and play their roles , NCAA cannot do everyone’s job.
“A lot of people are watching Nigeria’s effort ahead of this reopening and we did our work in-house. if we work as a team and get our acts together, we will take the industry to a greater height. There is a huge potential in the aviation industry but we need to wake up. Yes, NCAA is at the centre but we need to work together to ensure that Nigeria benefits from the potential in the industry”, he said.
Responding to a comment on flight delays, he noted that flight delays are inevitable, as no operator wants to delay a flight, adding that they work to minimize delays.
On the use of ICT post COVID-19, he said that NCAA will start leveraging on technology for its duties internally, before it will go trickle down to third parties. “We will change internal policy on technology and anybody that will want to do business will have to adapt. Hopefully, in two years, there will be significant changes in NCAA operations. It will be a paradigm shift from the way we do business”, he said.
In respect to international flights, he noted that it will ‘start when it will start‘, but they are strictly commencing on local flights and have started working on protocols for international flights, as international operations is significantly more different than domestic. He noted also that even if international flights open, it doesnt make sense as nobody is coming in and nobody is going out.
For his part, the Managing Director, Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) Captain Fola Akinkuotu, revealed that the Agency wrote to all airlines to submit possible schedule but only Azman,Arik and Max Air responded, noting that the low response makes it difficult to plan on flight sequencing and frequency.
“We plan to discuss everything with FAAN to know how much space are in the departure and arrival terminal. We will ensure that nobody is disadvantaged, and if need be, we will draw straws on who goes first but we can’t make scientific decisions with the kind of data we have. NAMA can only work with airlines that have complied”, he remarked.
He assured that there will be no chaos Wednesday and it will be in the interest of the airlines to submit their schedule to ensure proper planning.
Speaking on the use of technology for NAMA’s operations going forward, he stated that the Agency intends to aggressively address the issues of dealing with some of the constraints they had in the past using technology.
“We are in the process of deploying on our clearance portal and to link our clients on a payment platform to reduce physical contact. We will leverage on technology as much as possible to make it easier for our clients to get services”, he ended.
Also speaking, the Managing Director, Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria(FAAN), Captain Rabiu Yadudu, noted that they don’t intend to have their lounges filled up, adding that they are trying to maintain a capacity that will be 100 percent in the terminal.
“We are working to expand the Lagos airport, to fix issues there and we will ensure that there is no issues in Lagos”, he stated.
In his brief comment, Captain Roy Ilegbodu, Managing Director, Arik Air while noting that COVID-19 has impacted the aviation industry on a scale it has not seen before, urged everyone to remain prepared to continue to learn and adapt as they go.
Dr.Samson Fatokun- of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) noted that many nations are watching Nigeria to see how the country will fare with this reopening, adding that compliance of all stakeholders to protocols is important.
He restated IATA’s support to Nigeria and wished the country well .
