PBA ReporterThe largest airline in West Africa, Air Peace, has addressed concerns about its international operations by disclosing that it is in the clearing house of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and has the necessary tools and employees to run foreign flights.
Spokesman of the airline, Stanley Olisa made the claiification while reacting to a recent interview granted by a stakeholder in the industry who said that Nigerian airlines cannot succeed in international operation because they are not in IATA clearing house and also that they operate point to point.
According to him, that was obvious expression of ignorance by the stakeholder “who spoke authoritatively about how Nigerian airlines are going to fail, as he is wont to do, always predicting how Nigerian carriers are going to fail and how he has the magic wand to stop the failure if he is consulted. But he does not know that Air Peace is in IATA clearing house!”
Olisa said that Air Peace has what it takes to succeed on international routes and has forged strategic foreign operational alliances to sustain its overseas operations.
By praising another airline in the aforementioned interview, which he claimed is run professionally because the airline has expressed interest in operating regional service, Olisa claimed that this is an old tactic used to pit Nigerian airlines against one another. Olisa claimed that this strategy has failed miserably in recent times because the airlines have realized that some people who parade around as industry experts waiting to be consulted do not have their best interests in mind.
“We are not in the business of prosecuting campaigns of calumny on other airlines but for the so-called industry expert to gloss over Air Peace, the only Nigerian airline operating regional and international flights for over 6 years, is not only unfair but is reflective of those old games that have stopped working,” Olisa said.
The stakeholder stressed that point-to-point operational model does not allow Nigerian airlines to succeed on international routes.
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“We agree with him that the model has its limitations but he failed to add or realise that Nigeria does not have transit facilities at international airports. Air Peace operates connecting flights such as Lagos-Banjul-Dakar and Lagos-Accra-Monrovia. Besides, Nigerian airlines are pushing that the Nigerian Immigration Service should recognize transit passengers and not insist that they obtain Nigerian visa before connecting their flight. We hope that things will change when transit facility is built at out airports and the Nigerian Immigration Service is on the same page with us about transit passengers. That is even when we would be ready to benefit from Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM).
“We expected the stakeholder to comment on the myriad of challenges confronting Nigerian airlines instead of indirectly castigating Air Peace, the largest carrier in Nigeria operating about 3000 flights monthly, a figure that is higher than the total number of flights operated by all the other Nigerian airlines put together,” Olisa said.
On the issue of flight disruptions, Olisa said that it is not enough to blame the airlines for the delays and cancellations; noting that he should have also critically dwelt on the issues that engender these disruptions. The Air Peace spokesman emphasized that no airline deliberately delays flights or takes delight in cancelling flights.
“Every airline wants to record a high percentage of on-time performance but there are several factors that cause flight disruptions beyond the control of the airlines. The Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NIMET) has just announced harmattan haze in northern part of the country. This obviously will disrupt flights and soon it will come down to the south. Airlines suffer delays due to VIP movement; aircraft are grounded due to bird strike. All these in addition to other factors beyond the airlines cause flight delays and as an expert in the industry who has put in many years in the sector, he should know better than pushing the blame on the airlines.
“We advise that the aviation expert should be fair when opinionating on industry issues and refrain from making Air Peace, or any other Nigerian airline, look unserious and foredoomed. He should avoid vindictive sentiments and channel his energy into offering key insights that can help move the country’s aviation industry forward for the good of all,” Olisa also said.
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