All Posts in "Aviation"

Flight Cancellation:Court Fines Ethiopian Airlines N7m

A Lagos Federal High Court has awarded a fine of N6 million as general damages against Ethiopian Airlines Limited  for cancelling three Nigerians’ flights without due notice to the plaintiffs.
In his verdict:Justice Adekunle Faji also awarded another sum of N1 million as the cost of the action.
He  held that the defendant was bound to give notice of the flight cancellation to the plaintiffs and having not shown proof of such notice, its action was in breach of the contract of carriage.
He also found that the defendant breached the contract of carriage with the plaintiffs by its failure to give notice of its flight cancellation, as required by the NCAA Regulations.
He noted that this caused the plaintiffs who were on a family trip in a foreign land hardship, stress, and inconvenience in rescheduling their flights.
The  damages were awarded in favour of the plaintiffs, the Madakin Zazzau, Munir Jaafaru; his wife Hadizat Jaafaru, and their daughter, Hafsat Jaafaru, for the hardships, stress, and inconvenience caused them by the airline’s cancellation of their flights without notice.
In the suit filed on April 27, 2018, the plaintiffs sought among other things, a declaration that the airline contravened the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) Regulations, 2015 by cancelling the flights without due notice and for the consequent hardships, stress, and inconvenience.
Online Editor by — March 27, 2021 in Aviation 0
We Suspended Azman Airline To Avert Major Accident-NCAA

Ncaa-logo - Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, HD Png Download - 800x600(#1609247) - PngFind
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has explained that it  suspended flight operations of Azman Air in order to avoid major accident .
Azman Air Boeing 737 aircraft operating scheduled passenger flights were involved in three separate incidents over a period of about six weeks, resulting in damage to the aircraft in each case but with no loss,according to Sam Adurogboye
General Manager, Public Relations, NCAA.
He said that no responsible civil aviation agency will fold its arms and wait for the accident to happen before taking action.
He added:”The attention of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has been drawn to a press release issued by the management of Azman Air over the suspension of its flight operations by the NCAA that has gone viral in the social media.The NCAA would not ordinarily have bothered to respond to the publication
and would rather focus on its core mandate of ensuring safe and secure air
transportation in Nigeria.
“We are, however, constrained to issue this press release to keep the records straight and disabuse the minds of the public that
the action the Authority took was actuated otherwise than by safety considerations.Over a period of about six weeks, Azman Air Boeing 737 aircraft operating scheduled passenger flights were involved in three separate incidents, resulting in damage to the aircraft in each case but with no loss of life, for which we are grateful to God.
“During a routine ramp inspection on 10th February 2021, at Nnamdi Azikiwe
International Airport, Abuja, NCAA inspectors found an Azman Air maintenance engineer carrying out replacement of the right-hand main landing gear wheel assembly (nos. 3 and 4) of their Boeing 737-500 aircraft with registration 5N-SYS, without referring to the manufacturer’s maintenance manual.
“This is a violation of the Civil Aviation Regulations, for which both Azman Air and the engineer have been sanctioned but are yet to
pay the fine.
“On 11th February 2021, Azman Air flight AZM 2318 operated with the same Boeing 737-500 aircraft with registration 5N-SYS, departed Kaduna for Lagos.
 “During take-off, a component of the aircraft was observed to have accident chain before a completely avoidable national tragedy occurs.
“No responsible Civil Aviation Authority will fold its arms and wait for the next incident to occur, perhaps a fatal accident, before taking action.
“Consequently, the Director General called for an emergency meeting of the Flight Standards Group of the NCAA, to discuss and decide on the next line of action on the worrisome developments at Azman Air.
“After deliberations, which lasted for several hours, and comprehensive evaluations of these incidents, the Director General decided to suspend Parts A3 (Aircraft Authorization) and D43 (Aircraft Listing) of the Operations Specifications (OPS SPECS) issued to Azman Air, thus suspending the operation of the
entire Boeing 737 aircraft on its fleet.
“A comprehensive audit of Azman Air will be conducted in the areas of operations, airworthiness, training, licensing, financial health and any other area determined to be necessary during the exercise.
“An Audit Team of inspectors has been constituted to determine the root causes of these incidents, and recommend action plans to forestall re-occurrence.
“Regarding the spurious allegation made against the Director General, that he
demanded the sum of 15 million naira for a publication which carried an Azman advert. Between 20-22 November 2017, Nigeria hosted the ICAO World Aviation Forum (IWAF/3)in Abuja.
“The sponsorship of this event was sought from aviation organizations, including Azman Air, through a letter from the then Federal Ministry of Transportation (Aviation).
 “The Director General, who at that time was the Representative of Nigeria on the Council
of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), and a key member of the organizing committee of IWAF/3, delivered the letter of sponsorship to the management of Azman Air while he was on a family visit to Kano.
“The Chairman and the CEO of Azman Air both promised to revert but never did. The request for sponsorship of IWAF/3 can be independently verified with other Nigerian airlines.In addition, a publication, ICAO STATES TODAY, carried an Azman Air advert. The Airline subscribed to the advert in 2016, in preparation for the 39th General Assembly of ICAO but till date, Azman Air has refused to pay the advert cost of US$3,701, despite several reminders. The invoice from the
publisher of the magazine, FCM Communications based in Montreal,
Canada, can be independently confirmed with the publisher.
“The official request for sponsorship of IWAF/3 and reminder of payment for the long overdue invoice of US$3,701 to FCM Communications, are the basis for the false claims against the Director General of allegedly demanding the sum of 15 million naira.
“The allegation of “sitting” on the request of Azman Air to hire expatriate pilots is outright falsehood. The Director General assumed office on 24th February 2020 and shortly afterwards, in late March 2020, the Nigerian
airspace was closed to all flights.
” Azman Air applied for expatriate quota by
a letter signed by the Managing Director on 8th December 2020. That is just
over five months ago, and it was promptly turned down.
“The NCAA neither approves nor issues expatriate quota, however the inputs
of the Federal Ministry of Aviation and NCAA are part of the approval process of the Nigerian Immigration Services (NIS).
“Azman Air terminated the appointments of 6 Nigerian pilots (3 Captains and 3 Co-Pilots) on 6th November 2020, “due to recent happenings and developments in the company” and a few weeks later, on 8th December 2020, applied for expatriate quota for 6 expatriates to replace the terminated
Nigerian pilots. The Director General refused to endorse their request”
Online Editor by — March 20, 2021 in Aviation 0
Nigeria Customs Will Force Us To Close Shop-Airline Operatorsi

Indigenous airlines may be compelled to shut down operations if the Nigerian Customs Service fails to  promote ease of doing business for them in the country.
The operators raised lamented that  almost five years after the Federal Government approved zero duty waivers for airlines on aircraft acquisition and spare parts purchase, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is yet to fully commence the implementation of the policy
Barrister Allen Onyema,  Chairman, Air Peace,who disclosed these in Abuja, during the grand reception of the second Air Peace E195-E2 aircraft, Onyema wondered why officials of Customs are frustrating  efforts  being made by the Federal Government to ease challenges for the operating airlines in Nigeria
He  claimed that one of the airline’s aircraft had been grounded for over a month at the Lagos sea port  because of the insistence of Customs in collecting duties on the aircraft engine.
He said: “The Customs know very well that waivers have been signed into law, yet I have an aircraft on ground for over one month. An aircraft I pay over $1 million on insurance whether it flies or not, which is over N490 million with a staff strength of over 3,000 people. Our spare parts and engines will come into this country and customs will keep on keeping them on ground and giving us all manner of reasons and bills to pay.
“Even though, the President of the country in his wisdom has signed into law these waivers. It does not depend on the whims and caprices of anyone anymore. This is the law of the country and the customs should be made to obey the laws of this country or in the next coming week airlines may shut down.
“If not for the intervention of Sen. Hadi Sirika, the Minister of Aviation, last week all the airlines in the country would have shut down. Where does that leave this economy of this country? Air Peace in particular, an engine which should be cleared in one day has taken over one month to clear. The customs of Nigeria are not above the law. I must not be a prisoner of my own conscience.”
He spoke on  the acquisition of E195-E2 aircraft, saying  it was geared towards rebranding  the airline,adding that it had already made orders for 30 of the aircraft, while 13 of them were firm orders.
The third of the aircraft brand would be delivered to the company in  three weeks, adding  that when the 13 of the E-195-E2 aircraft arrived the country, Air Peace would create an additional 8,000 jobs for Nigerians, stressing that it was high time the country got indigenous capacity right.
Online Editor by — March 19, 2021 in Aviation 0
Why New National Carrier May Not  Stand-Unions

Unions in the Nigerian aviation industry have threatened to thwart the emergence of Nigeria Eagle, a new carrier being floated by the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) if the welfare of Arik Air workers is not adequately taken into consideration.
They  also faulted  the management of Arik Air for neglecting its members in the airline, claiming that 60 per cent of their members were yet to be recalled to work, despite the improvement in the fortune of the airline to the pre-Covid-19 period.
Comrade Ocheme Aba, General Secretary, National Union of Air Trasport Employees (NUATE),who spoke sduring an open congress of the unions in Lagos  noted that AMCON was in receivership of two airlines;– Arik Air and Aero Contractors with a 60 per cent shareholder in the latter and wondered why the same corporation wanted to float another airline, when the fortunes of the existing two airlines under its receivership had not improved.
He alleged that the aim of AMCON was to create  a window of business opportunity in order  to recoup its heavy financial losses through the heavy debts in Arik and Aero.
He said: “We have it on good authority that AMCON’s real intention is to sidestep the debt overhang, particularly in Arik air, while continuing to make money from the airline business without any real capital injection.This it intends to achieve by moving all valuable assets of Arik Air, including human asset, into the new NG Eagle. The questions are ‘what become of the carcass of Arik Air and its personnel after such evil wind?’”
He claimed that AMCON had already moved some personnel of Arik Air to NG Eagle ,while keeping mum  on the service records of such personnel in Arik Air.
He accused AMCON of arrogating to itself the power to probate and reprobate on all issues pertaining to status of employees in the new business, with complete disregard to subsisting collective bargaining agreements and relevant labour laws.
The union,he said, had notified the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) of the numerous anti-labour activities in the airline through AMCON, adding  that the unions would not paralyse activities in the airline if all efforts to address the labour issues in the airline failed.
“This issue of workers being at home endlessly when the condition of the airline has improved beyond pre-Covid-19 period is not acceptable to us. Now, they are feeding on the blood of their workers, helping the airline to be alive while their workers die.While committing the societal aspects of this brazen effrontery to the court of public opinion, and urging urgent intervention by appropriate government agencies – Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Aviation, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority and others, we have raised the labour aspects before the management of Arik Air as trade disputes.
“Should the management raise itself to the needed open mindedness and heartedness then we are willing and desirous of resolving them amicably as expected of progressive social partners. Then we shall welcome NG Eagle with our solidarity song and pop champagne,” he added.
Online Editor by — March 13, 2021 in Aviation 0
AIB Investigates  Air Peace Incident

AIB commences investigation into Air Peace incident – The Sun Nigeria
Accident Investigation Bureau, Nigeria (AIB-N) said it had commenced investigation into the serious incident involving Air Peace aircraft en route to Lagos from Abuja.
 Mr. Tunji Oketunbi, the General Manager, Public Affairs, AIB-,said that the aircraft, a Boeing 737-300 with the registration number: 5N-BUQ had a burst tyre on landing on Runway 18R, but without injury or fatality to persons onboard.
He  hinted that the serious incident occurred on Monday, March 8, 2021 at around 9:31pm with 133 souls onboard; 127 passengers and six crew members.
He said that the aircraft in question immediately taxied to the General Aviation Terminal (GAT) of the Lagos Airport to park.
He emphasised that the agency would soon release the preliminary report or update the public when necessary on the serious incident.
He added: “There was no injury or fatality. As the investigating agency, AIB needs and hereby solicits for your assistance. We want the public to know that we would be amenable to receiving any video clip, relevant evidence, or information any members of the public may have of the accident; that can assist us with this investigation.
“The bureau will appreciate that the general public and press respect the privacy of the people involved and NOT assume the cause of the accident until formal report is released. The bureau will soon release the preliminary report or update the public when necessary.”
Online Editor by — March 10, 2021 in Aviation 0