Accolades as Air Peace, crew bag NIPR awards

Nigeria's leading carrier, Air Peace and five of its crew members revelled in accolades on Thursday when the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) rewarded them with the “National Carrier of Repute” and “Nigerian Crew Member of Repute” awards respectively for delivering flight services with exceptional efficiency.

President of NIPR, Dr Rotimi Oladele, presented the awards to the airline and its crew members during the annual conference of the institute in Umuahia, Abia State. 

Air Peace, he enthused, had brought honour to Nigeria in the aviation industry and proved that the nation had the capacity to fix its challenges.

Oladele affirmed that the carrier's on-time performance, customer service, safety and fleet maintenance reputations were unparalleled.

The NIPR boss commended Air Peace’s crew chosen for the "Nigerian Crew Member of Repute" award - Capt. Adesola Arasi, First Officer Violet Enahoro, Ademola Olowolade, Ann Otiede, Yemisi Beckley and Paul Ijeh - for distinguishing themselves in their engagements with members of the flying public.

He justified the choice of Air Peace and its crew for the awards, saying they were practically assessed by NIPR teams without their knowledge.

He said a total of 20 airlines were covertly assessed by the institute's teams on board 29 flights and at the carriers' offices. Air Peace and its crew, he said, emerged winners after securing a total of 67 percent of the votes. 

Responding on behalf of Air Peace, its Corporate Communications Manager, Mr Chris Iwarah, said the carrier was driven by a passion to project the name of Nigeria globally through exceptional flight services.

From seven aircraft and five routes at launch in 2014, he said Air Peace had increased its fleet to 24 aircraft and taken its flight operations to 12 domestic and four regional destinations.

Iwarah said the airline was set to broaden its regional route network with the addition of Monrovia (Liberia), Lome (Togo) and Abidjan (Cote d'Ivoire) in the next few weeks.

He assured that the airline, which recently set a record as the first Nigerian carrier to acquire a Boeing 777 aircraft for its long-haul operations, would soon prove the mettle of the country on the global aviation scenes with the launch of its Houston, London, Guangzhou-China, Dubai, Sharjah, Mumbai and Johannesburg services.

He commended NIPR for rewarding merit, assuring that the awards would spur Air Peace and its crew to further raise the bar of service in the nation's aviation industry.

Air Peace moves to expand regional operations, reassures on safety

Nigeria’s leading carrier, Air Peace has announced plans to begin the third phase of its regional operations in the next few weeks with the launch of flights to Monrovia, Lome, Abidjan and some other West Coast destinations.

Meanwhile, the airline has reassured that its fleet comprises Boeing aircraft with some of the best engines in the world and built to ensure the safety as well as comfort of the flying public.

A statement signed by Air Peace Corporate Communications Manager, Mr Chris Iwarah said the airline was already realising its goal of guaranteeing seamless connectivity on the West Coast of Africa with the launch of its Accra, Ghana; Freetown, Sierra Leone and Dakar, Senegal flight operations.

The plan to add Monrovia, Lome and Abidjan to the airline’s route network, the statement added, was in appreciation of its customers on the West Coast who had reached out to it to expand its regional operations to cover more underserved destinations.

“On Feb. 16, 2017, we launched our Accra, Ghana operations and gave members of the flying public a refreshing choice of spectacular flight services on the route.

" Just about a year after our entry into the Accra route, we took another huge step to deepen our West Coast operations with the launch of our Freetown, Banjul and Dakar services on Feb. 19 2018.

“We are deeply grateful that members of the flying public have not only endorsed our regional flight operations with their patronage and loyalty, but are now requesting that we expand our network to cover more West Coast destinations, including Monrovia, Lome and Abidjan.

We feel highly honoured that our wonderful guests are pleased with our domestic and regional operations.

“Our goal is to make air connectivity on the West Coast and indeed the entire Africa seamless, comfortable, affordable and a refreshing experience.

"We are ready to take up the challenge and kick off the third phase of our regional operations with the commencement of our Monrovia, Lome and Abidjan services in the next few weeks.

"It is the least we can do in appreciation of our esteemed guests whose support and loyalty have taken us to the top spot as leaders of the commercial flight business on the West Coast of Africa,” the carrier said.

In another development, Air Peace has reassured that it was running a strict safety and fleet maintenance programme because of the premium it placed on the lives of its customers.

Its fleet, the airline said, comprised the family of Boeing 737 aircraft with some of the best engine performance record in the world.

The engine of an NG B737-700 aircraft owned by a United States-based airline recently blew out, prompting regulators to reportedly order a check to ensure that other aircraft of the same type were not having the fault allegedly discovered in the engine.

Air Peace, however, said its aircraft were different from the Boeing 737-700 involved in the U.S. incident. The Boeing 737-700 aircraft belonging to the U.S. carrier is fitted with a CFM56-7B engine.

Air Peace explained that it had Boeing 737-300 and 737-500 aircraft, which had been credited with perfect engine performance, in its fleet. The B737-300 and B737-500 aircraft are fitted with a CFM56-3C engine.

The airline said besides contracting one of the best aircraft maintenance companies in the world, BCT Aviation, to do routine maintenance of its fleet on ground its base in Lagos, it was spending huge foreign exchange to maintain its aircraft in some of the best facilities in the world to ensure that the safety of the flying public was not compromised.

“The FAA directive to airlines who operate aircraft with the same engine with the U. S. carrier to perform ultrasonic inspection on the engines installed on NG B737-700 does not extend to engines installed on the classic aircraft, which we have in our fleet.

"Besides, our aircraft are maintained in accordance with the approved maintenance programme and manufacturer maintenance document,”Air Peace said.

FAAN showcase Nigeria's potential to ACI Africa delegates

The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN)  on Wednesday took Delegates at the ongoing 59th Airports Council International (ACI)  Africa Conference on  a  sight seeing visit to some tourists sites in Lagos. 

Engr. Saleh Dunoma, Managing Director, FAAN and President ACI Africa , led the visitors to Madam Nike Arts Gallery, Freedom Park and Terra Kulture, a leading art, culture, lifestyle, and educational centre

The visitors, including  Ms Angela Gittens, Director General, ACI World, Canada, had fun learning how to make traditional fabric, popular called Adire, at Madam Nike's Art Gallery. 

They also had the opportunity of viewing the beautiful art works exhibited at the gallery and were very impressed with their high quality. 

At Freedom Park, the visitors were entertained with musical performances by various cultural groups and also took a guided tour of  the park where they were given historical lessons. 

The delegates later proceeded to Terra Kulture and were treated to a sumptuous local and international dishes at the beautiful restaurant. 

Speaking on  the purpose of the tour, Dunoma said it was an opportunity for FAAN to showcase the tourism potential of Nigeria to the delegates. 

Dunoma said :"The purpose is to sell Nigeria. It is an opportunity for us to showcase Nigeria and that is why we selected some sites around Lagos so that we can take our guests there. 

"We want them to see our culture and our beautiful locations so that at the end of the day we will give them a good impression of what Nigeria is for them to take back to their countries. 

"Since Nigeria is trying to attract investors,  we felt that during the conference; so many people, including captains of industries and players,  have come in and this is the only way we can showcase Nigeria to them."

Agro export : ICRC pledges support towards repositioning of Lilypond terminal

The Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) has pledge support towards the repositioning of the Lilypond Container Terminal in Apapa, Lagos to  become fully functional in order to boost agro-export in Nigeria. 

The Acting Director General of the ICRC,  Mr Chidi Izuwah, made the pledge on Tuesday during an inspection visit to the facility. 

The terminal which is operated by AP Moller Finance Limited,  has been designated by the Federal Government as a multi-purpose agricultural export processing and distribution facility under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) agreement. 

Izuwah noted that the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari was determined to diversify the Nigerian economy by focusing on agriculture and would continue to encourage private  investors to the sector. 

He said :" I want to assure you that the ICRC is keen on seeing that the Lilypond terminal is up and functional again as a multi-purpose agricultural export processing facility given the right business model. 

"We are therefore here today to evaluate the prospects and likely challenges the terminal might face in the near future and take proactive step towards tackling same. "

Izuwah noted that the federal government's ports reform policy had yielded encouraging results and had further  brought in efficiency in ports operation. 

Responding, Mr Neil Mackin, Head, Business Development, AP Moller,  said the terminal was hitherto used as an overflow facility for container handling. 

Mackin noted that the company was aiming to establish a more sophisticated terminal that would be able to preserve perishable items including fruits, tomatoes, beans and yam for distribution within the country and also for export purposes. 

He said when fully operational, the facility would increase employment in transportation and farming sectors,  and alleviate poverty through farmers' empowerment .

According to him, it will also lead to economy diversification, Gross Domestic Product (GDP)  growth as well as forex earnings through increased exports. 

Meanwhile, the ICRC team also paid a courtesy visit on the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) , Mrs Hadiza Usman.

In his speech, Izuwah commended Usman for her efforts in restoring sanity, fair competition and building rewarding relationship with operators within the port.

He said the ICRC and the NPA need to work together to periodically review PPP agreements in the sector in order to ensure what was best for the country. 

On her part, Usman said the NPA would continue to engage private investors in addressing some of its challenges and implementation of its ports reform programmes. 

FG constitutes 10-man committee to review safety recommendations

The Federal Government has constituted a 10—man committee to review the 120 safety recommendations of the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) since its inception. 

The committee was inaugurated on Wednesday by the Commissioner of AIB, Mr Akin Olateru, at the bureau's headquarters at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos. 

Olateru said that members of the committee were drawn from AIB, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and the Ministry of Transportation.

He said to ensure  balance and objectivity, the Minister of State for Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, also approved the appointment of Capt Kiddie Dare and Mr Gbolahan Abatan  as consultants to the committee.

The commissioner said :"The main purpose of today's event is to inaugurate a specially constituted committee on the effectiveness of the safety recommendations made by the bureau from inception.

"This becomes necessary in order to consolidate the remarkable efforts being made by this management since assumption of office to extend the frontiers of aviation safety, not only in Nigeria but globally.

"We inherited 27 outstanding accident reports out of which we have published 10 as at the end of 2017. 

"These reports generated 35 safety recommendations. We hope to release another set of six accident reports before the end of May, 2018."

He said the committee would  engage the affected stakeholders on the effectiveness of the safety recommendations addressed to them.

According to him, they are to submit their report to the AIB management, which will work on it for the benefits of the aviation industry and the entire world. 

Olateru explained that safety recommendations were as critical as the investigation itself as it is the lever used to effect safety changes and improvements in the aviation industry. 

 

He said : "ICAO also describes accident investigation as a process conducted for the purpose of accident prevention.

"This includes the gathering and analysis of information, the drawing of conclusions, including the determination of causes and, when appropriate, the making of safety recommendations.

"The purpose of accident investigation, which is to improve aviation safety cannot be achieved if our recommendations are not found to be effective by the stakeholders.

"The recommendations guide the regulators, operators, the Ministry and other stakeholders in the industry.

It is noteworthy that the Bureau's accident investigation and safety recommendations have recorded positive impacts in the national and global aviation arena.