By Chinelo Obogo
The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has promised that the Federal Government will drive policies that help domestic operators but said that local airlines would have to do its part by renewing their fleet to encourage passengers’ comfort.
During a visit of the Air Operators of Nigeria (AON) led by the chairman, Abdulmunaf Yunusa, to his office recently, the minister urged domestic airline operators to entrench cooperation among each other in order to boost their capital base and improve their services.
A statement by the Head, Publicity and Media of the ministry, Mr. Oluseyi Odutayo, stated that Keyamo said that the government is ready to support the growth of the local airline operators because they are critical to the development of the aviation industry. The minister said that that the government may review the existing Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) arrangements with foreign countries and also promised to suggest to the government the possibilities of airlines accessing facilities at single digits, including associated foreign exchange to meet their foreign obligations.
“I don’t want to operate as a ghost, I said one of my policy is to operate an open policy. I said, bring up your challenges so that Nigerians would understand exactly where Government and Airlines Operators stands,” he said.
Daily Sun had earlier reported that the AON urged the Federal Government to carry out sweeping reforms in the aviation sector including the cancellation of eight and ninth ‘freedom of free’ flights by foreign airlines into Nigeria among others.
During a meeting with Keyamo, the AON made a presentation, outlining the challenges in the sector and proffering solutions to them. Capt. Roland Iyayi who made the presentation on behalf of the body said that unavailability of foreign exchange, scarcity of jet-A1 fuel, inadequate infrastructure, cost of capital and funding options, government policies, multiple taxes, fees and charges, lack of local aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (mro) facility, cabotage operations by foreign airlines are some of the challenges facing the industry.