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.

Delta Air Lines transports 89,000 passengers from Nigeria to US in 2017

United States carrier, Delta Air Lines, on Wednesday said it transported 377,000 passengers from Africa to the US in 2017, with 89,000 of the passengers from Nigeria.

Mr Corneel Koster, Senior Vice President, Europe, Middle East, Africa and India, Delta Air Lines, made the disclosure while briefing newsmen in Lagos on the airline’s recent launch of direct flights between Lagos and New York.

Koster said the airline was targeting a 36 per cent increase in its Nigerian operations this year.

He said the airline, which also operates flights to Ghana, Senegal, South Africa and Gambia, was also targeting a 10 per cent increase in the African market in 2018.

“Delta has launched a new nonstop service from Lagos to New York-JFK, linking the financial capital of Nigeria to the financial capital of the world.

“The New York-JFK route complements the airline’s existing flight to Atlanta, providing a daily departure and more travel choice to the US than ever before,” he said.

The new route, according to him, underscores the airline’s commitment to the market by facilitating trade and commerce between both nations.

He said the airline was proud of its 10-year history in Nigeria.

Also speaking, Mr Bobby Bryan, Delta Air Lines Director, West, East and Lusophone Africa, said Lagos was the airline’s largest base of operation in Africa.

” The World Bank forecasts a 2.5 per cent growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for Nigeria in 2018.

“We believe that there is a positive trend in the Nigerian economy and it makes a lot of sense to connect Lagos to New York because both cities have high volume of businesses,” Bryan said.

He said the New York-JFK flight would operate three times weekly, with Delta’s existing services to Atlanta departing on the other four days.

Bryan said that the flights from Lagos to New York would be operated using a 234-seat Airbus A330-200 aircraft in order to ensure the safety and comfort of travellers.

Dana Air Bags 3 Awards at NIGAV

Dana Air has been announced as the airline of the year 2017, at the 8th edition of the Nigerian Aviation Awards and Presidential Dinner, held recently at the Oriental Hotel Lagos. 

 

The airline’s CEO,Jacky Hathiramani, Communications Manager, Kingsley Ezenwa also bagged the CEO of the year, and Aviation Corporate Promotions Personality of the year 2017 awards respectively, while the airline’s crew members; Collins Ginika and Chiogo Okani, won the King and Queen of the Air contest at the event.  

 

The king and queen of the air contest is a newly- introduced initiative by the organizers of the NIGAV awards, where the various domestic airlines' crew get to answer questions on how they handle safety issues, ensure comfort of passengers  and how to be a good crew member. 

 

The duo from Dana Air, also performed their first assignment at the event by presenting cash gifts to an orphanage present at the event.  

They have also become ambassadors of the NIGAV awards and will represent the industry at various aviation events for their intelligent display at the awards and mastery of civil aviation regulations 

 

The Media and Communications Manager of Dana Air, Mr Kingsley Ezenwa, who received the award  on behalf of the airline said," we thank the organizers of the Nigerian Aviation Awards for recognizing our efforts towards providing safe, reliable and affordable air transport in Nigeria, and  we wish to assure our guests of our unwavering commitment towards maintaining our standards and upping the ante on all fronts.''

 

On the CEO of the year award, Ezenwa said" a big thank you to all those who voted our indefatigable CEO, Mr Jacky Hathiramani. 

"Our CEO is a detribalised Nigerian and one who believes in the maxim - slow and steady wins the race. His managerial acumen is second to none, and doesn't believe in noise making but doing things right and creatively too." 

 

Speaking further on Dana Air crew winning the King and Queen of the skies contest, Kingsley said, ''our crew winning the king and queen contest organised for the crew of all domestic airlines, only shows the difference in standards , procedures and the level of training that our crew have received. They have also shown great knowledge of the job and smartness, and we are proud of them."

 

 Having flown over 2.7 million passengers in the last 9 years of its operations, Dana Air is one of Nigeria's leading airlines with over 27 daily flights from Lagos to Abuja, PH, UYO and Owerri. 

 

The airline is reputed for its innovative online products , world-class in-flight and customer service and unrivaled ontime performance. 

Air Peace emerges Leadership Company of the Year

Nigeria’s leading carrier, Air Peace has been selected as Leadership Company of the Year 2017 for maintaining quality flight operations and making bold investment decisions in the nation’s aviation industry.

A three-member delegation comprising Leadership Newspapers’ Deputy Editor, Mr Olajide Omojolomoju, Acting General Manager, Advert/Special Projects (Southern Operations), Mrs Angela Tony-Iji and Senior Correspondent, Bukola Idowu was at the Corporate Headquarters of Air Peace in Lagos to notify the airline’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr Allen Onyema of the development.

A letter signed by the Group Managing Director of Leadership, Mr Abdul Gombe said the Board of Editors of the media outfit voted Air Peace company of the year for “taking on the risks of expansion, maintaining high technical and service standard in the face of harsh economic climate, and giving hope to other investors that Nigeria is still an investment destination.”

Omojolomoju, who represented the managing director of Leadership at the visit to Air Peace, said the carrier got the award strictly on merit. 

He added that the newspaper’s awards  were not for sale, adding that it would be officially presented to the airline at a ceremony being planned by Leadership.

Responding, Onyema said the airline was grateful to Leadership for recognising and rewarding merit and excellence.

He said the  newspaper had continued to distinguish itself as one of the most credible and reliable sources of news and information in the country. 

The Air Peace boss urged the newspaper to sustain its high reporting standard.

Onyema assured them that Air Peace was working flat out to maintain its reputations for safe flight operations and on-time performance.

Easter: Dana Air Introduces Buy One, Get One free, Partners Royal Films on Movie against Migration

Dana Air has announced a 'Buy one, Get One free'  promo for any of its  guests that books a return ticket between 12 Midnight on  March 29 and 12 midnight on March 30, being Good Friday. 

The airline has also partnered Royal Films Academy on a movie titled 'Forgotten in Libya.' as part of efforts towards encouraging the youths to stay in the country and avoid migrating to countries where they are not welcome. 

The Accountable Manager of Dana Air, Obi Mbanuzuo, who made this known during a chat with newsmen in Lagos said, 'the buy one, get one free promo is just our way of appreciating our valued guests for their patronage.''

 ''Also in the spirit of Easter, we have introduced special fares of 18,000 premium economy and 45,000 business class to any of our destinations and you can avail these special fares by booking online at www.flydanaair.com. 

"The BOGOF promo is for any of our guests that books a return  ticket between 12 midnight on Thursday 29th March, and 12 midnight on Good Friday.''

On the partnership with Royal Films, Obi noted that ''Dana Air's commitment towards anything and everything that will contribute positively to the well-being of Nigerians has always caught our interest and we will continue to support projects and movies like this to encourage our youth not to leave our dear country for another country where they are not welcome.'' 

''Recently, we were regaled with stories of Nigerians who were deported from another African Country and subjected to inhuman treatments and that was really uncalled for and unacceptable.''

The movie - Forgotten in Libya'' will be premiered on March 30 in Owerri and will be distributed free to all tertiary institutions in Nigeria. 

Only recently, and as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility, Dana Air flew some US-based doctors on free medical mission to Uyo, where minor surgeries and other treatments were carried out for free. 

Having flown over 2.7 million passengers in the last nine years of its operation, Dana Air is one of Nigeria's leading airlines with daily flights from Lagos to Abuja, Port Harcourt, Uyo and Owerri.

The airline is reputed for its innovative online products, world-class in-flight service and unrivaled ontime performance.