Angry passengers beat up NCAA staff over cancellation of flight

By Ehi Ekhator, Naija Center News

Arik passengers at the Lagos International Airport have descended on staff of Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) as they are stranded.

Lagos airport

Passengers on Saturday were disappointed after reaching the airport and the flights were cancelled without prior notice and no reason given.

No staff were left behind to address the aggrieved passengers as they disappeared over what the angry passengers may do to them.

According to a source at the airport who spoke with NAIJA CENTER NEWS, “passengers on Arik are stranded, staff ran away, no body to talk to passengers. It is frustrating. They did not fly or inform passengers about the cancellation of all their flights since yesterday.

The passengers are aggressive, they pushed and beat an NCAA staff because they are looking for where to vent their anger. Even NCAA could not reach any of them (Arik Staff) and management on phone, and the passengers needed someone to talk to them because many of them came from different states”

The flight cancelled are W3101 LHR, actual time of department: 12:05 hrs, W3300ACC, 17:15hrs, W3304 ACC, 17:00hrs, W3390 COO, 11:15hrs, W3368 DKR 21:30hrs, W3103 JNB 01:10hrs, W3107 JFK time, 23:20hrs.

On Friday, the Managing Director, Arik Air, Mr. Chris Ndulue while addressing aviation reporters disclosed that the airline plans to suspend flight operation on Saturday.

He explained that the airline has been operating 20% of its daily flight schedule due to scarcity of aviation fuel, particularly in Lagos, its major  hub.

Ndulue said “This aviation fuel scarcity started last week Thursday. And since then, we have had to scale down our operations due to non-availability of fuel. We have had to cancel and reschedule flights. We couldn’t depart for Dubai yesterday due to this scarcity. It is becoming impossible to continue. We will suspend flights operation from tomorrow (Saturday), until when aviation fuel becomes available.”

Continuing, he said: “ It is the contingency arrangement for fuel during this scarcity that has taken us this far . We may not be able to continue. We have been losing revenue by cancelling flights and not operating at full capacity. We require about 500,000 to 800,000 litres of fuel daily to power both our domestic and international routes. Our international flights have had to go to Ghana, sometimes Cotonou and even Togo to get fuel before proceeding to London or United States.”

It will be recalled that last week, Arik Air raised the alarm about the negative impart of the current scarcity of fuel on its operations. According to an official of Arik, Chigozie Okereke, “There has been short supply of the product in Lagos and this has led to rationing by the petroleum product marketers. Signs of the scarcity started manifesting on Thursday, April 23, 2015 when marketers were unable to meet the demands of the airlines, especially Arik Air, which by volume of its operations requires a daily supply of between 600,000 and 800,000 liters of aviation fuel.”

She added that the scarcity had impacted negatively on Arik Air’s operations as flights have had to be delayed or canceled in cases where the destination airport has no airfield lighting.

“In some other cases, flights were diverted to other airports outside Lagos where the product was readily available,” she added.

Okereke further revealed that on “Friday, Arik Air’s flight to London Heathrow had to go via Accra to take fuel. Also on Saturday, the same London flight had to go to Cotonou, Benin Republic first to fuel before coming back to Lagos for the outbound flight to Heathrow.

“In the case of the Johannesburg flight of Friday, the aircraft had to first go to Port Harcourt where fuel was available before proceeding on the journey. On Monday, the London flight went via Kano to take fuel. Flying via other stations to take fuel has come at a great cost to Arik Air, but the airline had to do this to ameliorate the inconvenience the scarcity may cause its passengers.”

From all indications, this information was not passed to the passengers who were to board today, Saturday.

 

 

 

Angry passengers beat up NCAA staff over cancellation of flight

Nigeria suspends Gambian national airline over Ebola virus

LAGOS (AFP) – Nigeria has suspended the Gambian national airline from flying into the country, alleging “unsatisfactory” measures by the airline to contain the spread of Ebola virus, officials said on Sunday.

The “NCAA (Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority) has reviewed the measures put in place by your airline as contained in your letter of 30th July, 2014 and have found these measures unsatisfactory,” NCAA said in a letter to Gambia Bird Airlines.

“Consequently, your flights into Nigeria have been temporarily suspended with immediate effect until such a time that you are able to put in place acceptable and satisfactory measures,” said the letter, a copy of which was sent to AFP.

The contents of the airline’s letter to the NCAA were not disclosed.

NCAA is the government agency that serves as watchdog for all airlines operating in the country.

The Gambian national carrier flies to Lagos twice weekly. It also flies to other African countries in the region: Cameroon, Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Gambia and Senegal.

NCAA said that part of its efforts to curb the spread of the virus was to to direct all airlines operating into Nigeria from Guinea, Freetown and Monrovia “to put in place adequate measures to ensure that passengers with this disease are not boarded and brought into the country.”

“Such measures may include suspension of flights into these countries,” NCAA added.

An American Liberian who arrived Lagos from Monrovia, capital of Liberia, via Lome (Togo), eventually died of Ebola virus in a Lagos hospital last July 25.

A Nigerian nurse who had contact with the Liberian also died last week while seven others have been confirmed to have the virus in Lagos.

Nigeria along with Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia are the hardest hit countries by the epidemic, which the WHO has called the worst in four decades. Nearly 1,000 people have died of the virus in these four countries, WHO said.

Nigeria’s president on Friday declared a national emergency over the deadly Ebola virus.

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Nigeria suspends Gambian national airline over Ebola virus

Return N255m bulletproof cars - House tells NCAA

The House of Representatives has mandated the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to return the controversial bulletproof cars bought for the use of former Minister of Aviation  Ms Stella Oduah to its suppliers and the money paid for it recovered.The cars were bought for N255m.

House Aviation Committee Chair Hon. Nkiruka Onyejeocha stated this yesterday during an oversight visit to the NCAA offices in Lagos. The committee probed the deal which went awry and made recommendations to the House.

Onyejeocha said the committee insisted that the NCAA must return the controversial cars to the suppliers because the house was not satisfied with the relationship between the bank that facilitated the purchase of the cars and the aviation agency.

She said should the NCAA fail to return the cars to its suppliers, the committee would be forced to call for a public hearing on the issue.

She said:” Those bulletproof cars should be returned to the suppliers and the money recovered. We will call public hearing on the matter of they fail to return the cars.”

The committee mandated aviation agencies to communicate to it in writing their response to all issues raised before next week to enable it take a position on their activities.

Also yesterday, Ms Oduah admitted that low interest loans were obtained during her tenure to finance projects under the Aviation Master Plan.

But she was silent on the actual figure of the debt she left behind.

Oduah, who opened up on the controversial N174billion debt in the ministry, asked the managers in the aviation sector to keep faith with the Master Plan which can pay the debt and leave surplus.

The former Minister spoke through her Special Assistant, Dr. Daniel Tarka,in a statement in Abuja.

Although the statement disputed the N174billion debt, Oduah was not forthcoming on the actual worth of the loans obtained.

The statement said: “Our attention has been drawn to media reports that the Ministry of Aviation under the immediate past Minister, Princess Stella Adaeze Oduah incurred a staggering debt of N174billion under the aviation Master Plan. Nothing can be further from the truth.

”While we commend the National Assembly, especially the Senate and House of Representatives Committees on Aviation for supporting and keying into the aviation Master Plan, it is however, imperative to put the records straight on the alleged indebtedness,  the loans obtained during that period and the mode of repayment.

”The agenda for the transformation of the aviation sector which warranted the conceptualization of the Master Plan was for the industry to be fully self sustaining by 2016; and begin to yield additional revenue for government through improved Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).

“In order to achieve the above objectives, we embarked on the upgrade and rehabilitation of the 22 federally-owned airports across the country under the Airport Remodelling Programme (ARP).

“As part of measures to effectively implement the Master Plan, several sources of funding were identified. These include, (i) Annual budgetary allocations; (ii) Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), including airport development levy and security surcharge; (iii) Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) funds; (iv) Low interest loans, amongst others.

”Besides the statutory approvals, the ministry designed the projects with in-built capacities to generate funds without having to place any further financial burden on the Federal Government within the period.”

She said the projects under the Master Plan  were not meant for 2013 alone.

She added: “It must also be stressed that these projects were not designed to start and end in 2013, and so, were not tied to the 2013 budget alone.

“The Master Plan, it must be noted again, wasn’t designed with only the 2013 budget cycle in mind. It was conceptualized to be implemented as a process and not a destination.

“Therefore, the projection of revenue streams within the life span of the Master Plan are such that all projects would be adequately financed from budgetary allocations and the identified revenue sources; with the high possibility of surpluses that can subsequently be deployed for the repayment of the loans on maturity after the period of moratorium. The question of liabilities therefore, do not arise.

”We are convinced that an efficient and effective implementation of the Master Plan would guarantee the realisation of these revenue projections, facilitate the seamless implementation of the projects and ensure the rapid development of the sector into a net revenue earner for the government within the next three years.

”We therefore implore the current managers of the sector to exploit these well-laid foundations that were left behind by the former minister and her team.”

Return N255m bulletproof cars - House tells NCAA

Shake up in Aviation as Jonathan sacks FAAN, NCAA, NAMA, NCAT directors

 

A massive shake-up hit aviation agencies yesterday – three weeks after Princess Stella Oduah was removed as minister.

The sudden sack gale provoked mixed feelings at the headquarters of the agencies in Lagos.

President Goodluck Jonathan

A statement from the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Anyim Pius Anyim, said President Goodluck Jonathan approved the reorganisation.

Only Dr. Tony Anuforo retained his position as Director-General of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET).

The statement by Sam Nwaobasi, Special Assistant (Media) to the SGF, said: “Mr. Saleh Dumona (Director Projects, FAAN) is to replace Mr. George Uriesi as Managing-Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).

“Mr. Ibrahim Abdulsalam (General Manager, Procurements (NAMA) is to replace Mr. Nnamdi Udoh as Managing Director of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA).

“Capt. Samuel Akinyele Caulcrick (Government Safety Inspector & ICAO Focal Point for Nigeria on line Aircraft Safety Information Systems, OASIS) is to replace Capt. (Mrs.) Chinyere Kalu as Rector of the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT).

“Capt. Muhktar Usman (Commissioner, Accident Investigation & Prevention Bureau, AIPB) is to replace Capt. Fola C. Akinkuotu as Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), subject to confirmation by the Senate.

“Mr. Benedict Adeyileka is to act as DG, NCAA, pending his confirmation by the Senate.

Dr. Felix A. Abali (Director Licencing, NCAA) is to replace Capt. Muhktar Usman as Commissioner, Accident Investigation and Prevention Bureau (AIPB).”

The sack of the NCAA director general is coming on the heels of plans by the government to undergo the re-certification of Nigeria’s safety rating for Category One status.

The United States (U.S.) team to carry out the audit will arrive in Nigeria this month.

Nigeria attained Category One on September 18, 2010.

Part of the requirements of the re-assessment is: certification of major international airports, the operations of aviation agencies, including airspace authority, aviation training college and the meteorological agency.

The recertification is part of the processes to revalidate the highest civil aviation rating, which ensures that Nigeria is in line with updated standards and recommended practices of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

Aviation stakeholders expressed mixed reactions over the sack of heads of the agencies. They described removal of the NCAA DG as “controversial”.

Mr. Sheri Kyari, executive director of the Centre for Aviation Safety and Research, said the industry would require time to recover from the restructuring.

Captain Dele Ore, president of Aviation RoundTable, said he could not comment because no reason was given for the removal of the director general of the NCAA.

Other players in the sector, who declined to give their names, said frequent changes of leadership could have some negative impact on the industry.

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Act (2006) specifies conditions under which the NCAA DG could be removed from office.

It states: “There shall be for the Authority a Director-General who shall be appointed by the President, on such terms and conditions as stipulated in the Act, subject to the confirmation by the Senate.

“The Director–General shall be primarily responsible for the fostering of the safety of Civil Aviation in Nigeria and shall be the chief executive and accounting officer of the Authority responsible for the day-to-day administration of the Authority.

“He shall be appointed for a term of five years in the first instance and may be reappointed for a further term of five years and no more.

“A person who possesses relevant and adequate professional qualification and shall have been so qualified for a period of not less than 15 years.

“The Director-General may be suspended or removed from office by the president if he has demonstrated inability to effectively perform the duties of his office.

“If has been absent from 5 (five) consecutive meetings of the Board without the consent of the Chairman, unless he shows good reasons for such absence.”

“If he is guilty of serious misconduct in relation to his duties as Director-General.

The condition also states that in the case of a person possessed of professional qualifications, he could be removed if he is disqualified or suspended from practising his profession in any part of the world by an order of a competent authority.

“Or he is guilty of a conflict of interest as stipulated in Section 10 of this Act.

“The Director-General shall not be removed from office except in accordance with the provisions of this Act.” (0)

Shake up in Aviation as Jonathan sacks FAAN, NCAA, NAMA, NCAT directors