August 04, (THEWILL) – The Director General of Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Capt. Musa Nuhu, has stated that for an operator to have six aircraft, it shows the operator has very strong financial backgrounds of running an airline.
Capt Nuhu said that the Authority is trying to institutionalise NCAA, make it a proper institution so that the standard across board is maintained.
Capt Nuhu equally said that there are so many other things that the Authority is putting in place, adding that by the end of next year, the impacts of these things they are putting in place will show on the industry.
Speaking during an interview with journalists on Thursday, Nuhu said the problem is that a lot of the airlines don’t even have the capacity to meet current financial obligations.
He said, “If you have three aircraft for instance and you lose one out of it, it has become a problem to meet up with your operations. Then, you start to have issues of flight delays, cancellations and all that. The number of aircraft you will have will depend on the kind of operations you want to do.
“You can imagine somebody who comes in with just one or two aircraft and one of the aircraft goes out of business, and sell tickets to the passengers, think of what will happen. For you to have six aircraft, it shows you have very strong financial backgrounds of running an airline.”
Explaining further, the Director General informed that the minimum aircraft proposal is not only for new entrants, but the old ones too have a period by which they have to comply.
“If everybody has one or two aircraft, we will keep having this recurrent problem. We have to avoid that. People will criticise, but every country is different. We have to look at our own peculiar history and try and come with solutions, but regulations are not cast in stones. If the situation changes, the regulation would be reviewed accordingly. Whenever it is necessary, we don’t have to wait for five years before we make amendments.”
On the recent crash of J430 aircraft, which occurred in Ikeja, Lagos, he said, “It is unfortunate that everyone is talking about the crash already when the NSIB has not come out with its safety report on it. Some people want to demonise Engr. Gbolahan Abatan, who has done a great job for us since he came onboard. Before he took over the NCAA job, he was doing well as a private entrepreneur, and in line with the civil service rules, he resigned properly from Air First Hospitality and Tours. The aircraft in question doesn’t belong to him, but he manages it. I think we should not demonise him for whatever reason.”
Anthony Awunor, is a business correspondent who holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Linguistics (UNILAG). He is also an alumnus of the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria Kaduna State. He lives in Lagos.
