Despite the collective agreement among domestic airlines that the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), has improved safety in the nation’s airspace, there are concerns that some regulatory policies have retarded the growth of the aviation industry, especially the airline sub-sector.
One of such policies is that any new airline requesting for Air Operator Certificate (AON) for schedule commercial service must have a minimum of six aircraft; a policy described as good but difficult to implement because not many start-up airlines can afford to acquire six aircraft before it starts operation.
The implementation of the new policy was supposed to kick-off last year, but so far it is not known if NCAA has started implementing it because no new airline has joined the market yet for schedule flight service.
Industry insiders who spoke to THISDAY said thestringent regulation has made it very difficult for new airlines to start operation adding that this reality has forced the regulatory authority to look for ways out; to provide a window of flexibility.
Industry observers argued that if new airlines join the market it would become more competitive, more jobs will be created and there will be general industry growth.
Speaking about the issue, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Aero Contractors Nigeria Limited, Captain Ado Sanusi, told THISDAY that the new regulation on the minimum number of six aircraft is very difficult to implement, noting that before a country introduces a regulation it should look at the possibility of its implementation.
“We should study these regulations before we assent to them. We must look at whether it is implementable because some of the regulations are too hard to implement and when you find them difficult to implement, you start looking for waivers and compromises. Before you approve any regulations, you must look at these factors. It must be strong to guarantee safety; it must also be flexible in order to guarantee economic growth and to achieve this we must look at our peculiar environment and see how it could be domesticated,” he said.
According to him, compromises and waivers will come into play when regulations are not realistic and when you bring in these elements, such regulation becomes ineffectual and insisted that if regulation is well planned before it is introduced, there would be no room for waivers and compromises.
“We should make realistic regulations to address safety concerns and economic growth for the airlines and for the country. The regulations should be in tandem with the realities of our environment. That is why you don’t out rightly borrow ideas; you must bring it down to your environment and make sure it is implementable. So, compromises and waivers reflect very poor regulation. So, regulation should be strong enough to enhance safety but flexible enough to encourage business,” he said.
When the six aircraft minimum fleet for start-up airline was introduced it was defended by the then Director General of NCAA, Captain Musa Nuhu, who said the regulation was introduced in a bid to further ensure reliable operations and on-time performance of operators.
Nuhu, in an interaction with journalists then, said that the policy implementation by the NCAA was to ensure that the operators were more responsible in their operations to their clients and stated that most of the indigenous airlines lacked the financial muscles to operate properly as an airline, a situation, which he said had led to avoidable flight delays and cancellations over the years.
He explained that an airline with just one or two aircraft had the potential to disappoint passengers in case if one of the airplanes developed a snag, but emphasised that with a minimum of six airplanes, such delays and cancellations would reduce.
Nuhu insisted that Nigeria had a peculiar situation, which must be critically examined and monitored by the regulatory authorities.
He also said that the new regulation was not restricted to new entrants alone, but also extends to existing airlines with AOCs, saying that the current scheduled operators had been given a timeline for them to comply with the new regime. But since the policy was introduced and being implemented no new aircraft has joined the market with new six aircraft in its fleet.
However, Nigerian airlines have commended NCAA despite the stringent regulations, saying that the regulatory body’s efficiency has impacted on airlines, hence the high safety record of Nigeria, noting that the way the Director General, Captain Chris Najomo, has been managing the agency made it easy for airlines to operate despite the strict regulations.
The Chairman and CEO of Air Peace Limited, Dr Allen Onyema, advocated for more self-regulation by airlines in order to reduce pressure on NCAA.
Speaking at a recent stakeholders’ forum in Lagos, Dr Onyema commended the Director General, saying that while strictly implementing the policies to ensure the airspace is safe, he has also adopted a very flexible work ethic in order to accommodate varying demands of his office.
Onyema said that Captain Najomo is “trying to remove those deliberate bottlenecks, bureaucracies, unnecessary ones, people put on our path to forestall progress. For example, you apply to the NCAA for your aircraft to be inspected, and it will take you like two months before somebody comes out to go and inspect your aircraft.”
“You have borrowed money from the banks to pay for that aircraft abroad. Now, under Captain Najomo, it is a matter of days. So, is he cutting corners by making people stand up to do that what they are supposed to do? No. It is only a very stupid airline that will want to cut corners. In fact, it is very, very expensive to do anything unsafe. That is your shortest route to extinction.
“Safety is very, very key. Myself, standing here, I can tell you, both NCAA, of old and now, will tell you that I grounded eight aircraft in one day and sent all of them to Europe. Just because I discovered somebody made a mistake on one aircraft. Self-regulation is the best. It is not only NCAA that regulates. Every airline is supposed to regulate itself,” Onyema said.
However, it is the view of sum industry operators that government should review the new regulations that an airline should have six aircraft before starting schedule commercial operation; just as some stakeholders are also calling for the removal of 22 years cap as the oldest aircraft that can be brought into the country.
