Dana Air Bags NANS’ Best CSR Company Award, Recognises CEO as Icon of Societal Development

For its passionate commitment to the society, one of Nigeria’s leading airlines Dana Air, has been recognised as the Best Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Company of the year 2017/18, by the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS)

The airline’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr Jacky Hathiramani was also conferred with the Icon of Societal Development Award, for his ''leadership acumen, Giant stride in the aviation sector and Humanitarian service.''

The National Public Relations Officer of NANS, Mr Odebunmi Idowu, who made the presentation to the airline during a courtesy visit to Dana Air's Murtala Mohammed Airport (MMA2) office in Lagos, said: so many companies do not understand the meaning of giving back to the society in which they operate. Most of them believe is all about the industry and profit, leaving out the society and people who keep them in business.’’

''Today, we have decided to honor one of Nigeria’s finest airlines for their outstanding service delivery in the aviation industry and most of all, their passionate commitment to giving back to the society.'' 

''We are aware of Dana Air’s discount for corp members and Nigerian students, Commitment to the fight against cancer in Nigeria, and constant support to the Nigerian entertainment industry and as patriotic Nigerians concerned about our development as a country.

"The leadership of NANs resolved in her best capacity to honour Dana Air Management into NANS Hall of fame and also present this award as Nigeria's Best CSR Company of the year, having reviewed your immense contribution to the economy and your humanitarian and community development initiatives.''

Odebunmi who described the airline’s CEO as a very humble and accommodating personality, also thanked him for his humanitarian service, and extolled his management and leadership acumen.

Receiving the award on behalf of Dana Air and its CEO, the Accountable Manager / Chief Operating Officer of the airline, Mr Obi Mbanuzuo, said it was a well-deserved award for the airline as a result of Dana Air’s commitment to its broad community development initiatives.

He thanked the airline's guests for supporting Dana Foundation to achieve a lot in terms of sponsoring worthy causes and fulfilling its social responsibility.

In 2011, as a result of Dana Air’s constant support for community development initiatives, the airline bagged two CSR awards –Most Endorsed Airline in CSR by CSR Nigeria Awards and Best CSR airline of the year by Lagos Enterprise Awards. 

The airline is reputed for its innovative online products, World Class in-flight service and unrivaled on time departures.

Aviation unions' threat to disrupt MMA2 operations lawless - Bi-Courtney

Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL) on Sunday faulted the plan by aviation unions to disrupt its operations at the Murtala Muhammed Airport 2, (MMA 2) Lagos, following the termination of services of some members of staff.

The spokesperson for BASL, Mr Steve Omolale, who made this known in a statement described the threat by the unions as "lawlessness ".

The unions, the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) and the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), had issued the threat in a recent letter to BASL. 

They had given BASL a seven day ultimatum to recall the workers who were allegedly sack for  indicating interest to belong to unions in the sector. 

However, Omolale said BASL was  taken aback by their threat to further display acts of lawlessness against the organisation.

He said it would be recalled that the two unions had been at loggerheads with Bi-Courtney following the handover of the General Aviation Terminal (GAT) to the company. 

According to him  despite the handover being in accordance with the Concession Agreement executed between BASL,  the Federal Government and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), the two  unions physically prevented the company from exercising its constitutional and legal right of ownership of the terminal.

Omolale said :“Subsequent to this handover, the courts have confirmed that the terminal belongs to our company.

“It is interesting to note that the two unions, NUATE and ATSSSAN, actually challenged our ownership of the terminal in court in Appeal No. CA/A/141/M/09. 

"The case was decided in our favour in the Court of Appeal on  Oct. 16 2010. Their case was dismissed for lacking any merit whatsoever.

“Sequel to this, the courts have awarded damages of N132 billion in favour of our company for the liability we suffered up to 2009. 

"As at now, the damage is in excess of N200 billion. The same unions, in continuation of their desire to sabotage the operation of the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, are now threatening to disrupt our operations."

He maintained that BASL would  do everything within the laws of Nigeria to enforce its right to peaceful existence and to operate its business without any interference from meddlesome interlopers.

Omolale explained that the workers who were relieved of their appointment were staff who had either attained retirement age or who were found not to be diligent in their duties, stressing that BASL had  the right to continue to improve the quality of its staff.

He said this was contrary to the unions' allegation that their service was terminated because they threatened to join a union. 

Air Peace emerges company of the year, attributes feat to customers

Nigeria's leading carrier, Air Peace has won the “Company of the Year Award 2017” of Leadership Group.

The airline received the award weeks after it was recognised as a “National Carrier of Repute” at the Annual Conference of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) in Umuahia, Abia State, where six of its crew members were also honoured as “Nigerian Crew Member of Repute”.

Speaking at the Leadership 2017 Awards in Abuja on Thursday, Chairman of Leadership Group Limited, Mr. Sam Nda-Isaiah said Air Peace and other award recipients were selected for the honour strictly on merit.

He hailed the carrier and other awardees for making significant contributions to the economic development of the country, urging them to sustain the high standards they were reputed for.

Meanwhile, Air Peace has dedicated the award to its customers, saying their huge support and patronage had been the pillars of its success since it commenced commercial flight operations more than three years ago.

The airline assured that the award, which was received on its behalf by its Chief Operating Officer, Mrs. Oluwatoyin Olajide would spur it to deepen the quality of its flight services.

“The award from Leadership Group”, the airline said in a statement issued by its Corporate Communications Manager, Mr. Chris Iwarah, “is another proof of the high quality of our contributions to the development of Nigeria’s economy and delivery of excellent flight services."

It assured: “We are driven by our passion to reward the huge support and patronage of our esteemed guests over the years.

" We are not going to spare any effort to make the flying experience of our guests truly great and rewarding.

"Soon, we will be announcing dates for the commencement of the expansion of our route network to Asaba, Bauchi, Kaduna, Makurdi, Osubi, Nigeria Air Force Base in Port Harcourt, Monrovia, Lome, Abidjan and other West Coast destinations under the third phase of our no-city-left-behind project aimed at having many more people experience our spectacular flight services.

“There are challenges, no doubt, but we are working flat out to reduce the impact of these occurrences on the revolution we have continued to spearhead in the Nigerian aviation industry to the barest minimum.”

Air Peace said it was grateful to Leadership Group for recognising its contributions to Nigeria’s economy and rewarding excellence.

Dana Air introduces ''Cash Back'' Reward for Guests

 One of Nigeria’s leading airlines Dana Air, has introduced has introduced another customer-centric initiative designed to gift its guests with some ‘cash back’’ on every booking.

The initiative requires the airline’s guests to get a ''Thank U’’ card at its Murtala Muhammed Airport 2 sales outlet  , pay for their booking using the card, to get  a good  discount on every booking which can also be used to shop at any partner outlets.

According to the Communications Manager of Dana Air, Mr Kingsley Ezenwa, ‘’Dana Air is pleased to have again moved a notch higher towards achieving its vision  of becoming Nigeria's most customer-friendly airline with the launch of the 'thank you' initiative, which is designed to further appreciate and reward our guests for their loyalty.'' .

‘’A customer with the thank you card doesn’t need to queue to pay for booking at any of our outlets. Its just a swipe and the card is debited.

"The passenger also gets the cash back reward instantly. This means our guests get rewarded instantly for every booking. It’s just our little way of creating a seamless travel experience for our guests while still rewarding their patronage.’’

Speaking further, Kingsley said, ''we will continue to explore technology to ease booking, and exceed the travel experience of our guests. We are a creative brand with a  knack for innovation and ingenuity. 

"Our self service kiosk is also located at MMA2, where guests can choose to avoid the queue and book tickets, reschedule their flights or even pay for their booking without an interface with our agents. The kiosk is the first of its kind at the airport and created to suit the needs of our time-conscious guests.’’ 

Dana Air is one of Nigeria’s leading airlines with over 27 daily flights from Lagos to Abuja, Port Harcourt, Uyo,and Owerri. The airline is reputed for its innovative products,  world-class in-flight service and unrivaled on-time performance

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."