Yemisi Izuora
National President, Air Transport Service Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) Mr Benjamin Okewu, has said that the economic index for the aviation industry in 2015
appear positive despite seeming challenges.
Okewu asked Nigerians to look at the future with confidence predicting resounding growth in the industry.
He noted that the industry is expected to expand with the number of
domestic airlines that are frequently springing up.
“Not minding the devaluation of the Naira, the economic index are very
promising for the aviation industry as we can see that the various
domestic airlines are also increasing.
“We have more foreign airlines coming into the country, as some of our
domestic airlines like Medview are planning to fly into Dubai and
Singapore.
“The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) is doing a lot on
safety of our airspace. They are taking delivery of a lot of equipment in 2015 to consolidate
on what is on ground,” he said.
According to him, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) had
promised to consolidate the authority as the regulatory agency that it
should be in terms of both technical and economic regulations.
The president noted that the economic index and regulatory aspect of
the industry were two things that are critical for a robust accident
free aviation activities in 2015.
Okewu said that the re-opening of some of the remodel airports in 2015
would boom employment for Nigerians in the aeronautical and
non-aeronautical activities.
He noted that the challenges that might be expected in the sector in
the same year would not be different from what the sector had
experience in previous years.
“We have issues with the cost of aviation fuel, JET-A1, unfortunately despite that the price of crude oil has crashed; the cost of JET-A1 is
increasing. The cost of aircraft spare parts and maintenance will be affected negatively due to the devaluation of the Naira and these involve use of foreign currency,’’ he said.