Nigeria Air to Begin With 3 Leased Aircraft

Nigeria Air, the proposed national carrier will commence operations with the wet lease of three aircraft from most likely Europe, Capt. Tilmann Gabriel, the Transaction Adviser on national Carrier, has said.

He said this on Thursday in Abuja at a press briefing organized by the Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika to provide more context on the proposed national carrier.

The Minister had given April 2022 as the date Nigeria Air will take to the sky after a failed attempt in 2018.

The national carrier in 2018 was unveiled at the Farnborough Aviation show, United Kingdom.

Capt. Gabriel said that as an expert who has been a part of many start-up airlines across the world, the leased policy is the easier and cost-effective way to start an airline.

He also said it is global best practice and even in Nigeria, some airlines have started airlines with leased aircraft.

Capt. Gabriel said that the leasing option is the best option now because with COVID-19, leasing companies have aircraft and crew idle and Nigeria will get a good bargain at this time.

He said the conversations with lessors in Europe has begun.

“We are taking to leasing companies but at the same time, we are ordering for new aircraft. With the wet lease, the lessor will provide the aircraft, crew, maintenance, and insurance. This will also reduce the rigor of certifications that come with unregistered,” he said.

He also said the wet lease will provide an opportunity for Nigerian professionals to be trained ahead of the new aircraft acquisition.

Also speaking at the briefing, the Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika said Nigeria Air will start with domestic operations, before moving unto regional operations and later long haul or intercontinental flights.

He also said the AOC certification has been applied at the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) but centrally to speculations, the process didn’t start now.

He said that based on the quantum of work that has gone into the planning, the April 2022 timeline set for the delivery of the airline is feasible but the airline managers may decide to launch earlier or delay it a bit.

He however noted that based on global conventions, airlines are best launched between March and October.

UK Imposes Travel Restrictions on Six African Countries as new COVID-19 Variant Emerges

The UK government has imposed temporary travel restrictions on six African countries following the emergence of a new COVID-19 variant in South Africa.

A new variant of the coronavirus, B.1.1.529, was discovered in South Africa three days ago and 59 cases have been confirmed in South Africa, Hong Kong, and Botswana.

Although the variant is yet to be detected in the UK, it has gone ahead to announce that travelers from South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, and Eswatini, will not be allowed into their shores from 12:00 GMT Friday (1 p.m. Nigerian time).

According to Sajid Javid, the UK health secretary, “the UK Health Security Agency is investigating a new variant. More data is needed but we’re taking precautions now.”

“From noon tomorrow, November 26, six African countries will be added to the red list, flights will be temporarily banned, and UK travellers must quarantine.”

Experts have said that the B.1.1.529 variant could be the most lethal and worrying yet. This is because of its “awful spike mutation profile”, which scientists fear could help it evade immunity. Early reports suggest it is capable of reducing vaccine efficiency to just 30 per cent.

“The first indications we have of this variant are that it may be more transmissible than the Delta variant and that the vaccines we currently have may be less effective,” Mr Javid said.

According to him, British scientists are “very concerned” by this variant.

“We will ask anyone arriving from these countries from 4 a.m. on Sunday to quarantine themselves in hotels,” Mr Javid said, adding that those arriving before that date will have to self-isolate and do two PCR tests on the second and eighth day of their confinement.

“And if someone has arrived from these countries in the last ten days, we will ask them to do PCR tests,” he added.

The WHO will hold a special meeting following the emergence of this new variant.

Nigerian Airlines Decry Huge Financial Losses, High Cost of Maintaining Aircraft Engines Affected by Bird Strike

Nigerian airlines are beginning to count their huge financial losses in the maintenance of aircraft engines that are adversely affected by bird strike during operations.

They said they spend millions of dollars every year to repair or replace engines damaged by bird strike.

They also said that on regular basis airlines suffer bird strike in their operation, which exposes passengers to safety threats, causes operational hiccups and reschedule challenges.

It was gathered that most often when aircraft picked a bird or birds in its engine or engines, it aborts further use of the aircraft and depending on the level of damage, the aircraft might not be used for days until it goes through repair process or the engines completely replaced.

When aircraft are grounded the airline loses about N3-N5 million daily until it is repaired and put back to service.

The Managing Director of Aero Contractors, Captain Abdullahi Mahmood, affirmed that although bird strike is a natural phenomenon, the airport management could control its effect, as it strikes aircraft most often during take off or landing, which means it happens in the airspace around the airports.

He said airline operators have complained severally about the effect of bird strike on their operations, noting that airlines loses huge amount of money to bird strike, specially now that it is extremely difficult to obtain foreign exchange to acquire aircraft spares from overseas.

“Bird strike is a global phenomenon, but we can reduce its effect if we have the facilities to keep them away. There is a unit in the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) that is responsible in keeping the birds away from the airports. Certain airports are known to be prone to bird strike. The birds can be kept away, but maybe FAAN does not have enough manpower to do so,” Mahmood said.

He said that bird strike is a serious problem to the airlines because when the bird damages the aircraft engine it costs hugely to fix them and sometimes the engine could be completely lost.

“Pilots have been trained to manage one engine if the other one is down, but it is still a challenge to the airline and to the aircraft. It depends on the level of damage, an aircraft can go for complete overhaul, where by you bring it and fix it; but if the damage is not severe, we do what we call desktop. Some engines can cost about $2 million to $2.5 million for Boeing B737 Classic,” he said.

Director of Engineering, Ibom Air, Lukeman Animaseun, confirmed that in bird strike, safety challenge is paramount, depending on the level of damage to the engine.

“If the damage didn’t go into the engine, then the airline is lucky but if it damage is in the core of the engine, the impact might be much and it might affect the safety of the passengers and it also depends on the size of the bird,” he said.

On the cost of bird strike to the airline, Animaseun said airlines spend so much money to fix damaged engine, noting that if an airline suffers regular bird strike, it would spend most of its resources fixing aircraft engines. Read more

Concerns as Fleet Size, Traffic Surge Outgrow Infrastructure

Passenger demand surges by 50%

Local aviation sector may not reap the full benefits of new investments and surge in passenger traffic if it continues to ignore yawning gaps in airport infrastructure.

Aviation stakeholders, who gave this warning on the heels of a good outing witnessed by local airlines at the recent Dubai Airshow, said operators, are only as efficient and profitable as the system allows them.

They said despite ongoing efforts to concession the four big airports for efficiency, the aviation authorities should continue to improve on basic infrastructure to improve passenger facilitation and turnaround time, especially as the festive peak period approaches.

Starting from a recent upsurge in passenger traffic in the first half of 2021, two local airlines recently placed orders for new fleets worth $1.2 billion.

Akwa Ibom State-owned carrier, Ibom Air, tabled an ambitious request for 10 brand new Airbus 200-300 aircraft. At a market price of $90.5 per aircraft, the bid is worth about $905 million in total.

Similarly, Overland Airways placed a firm order for three new Embraer E175 regional jets, plus rights for the purchase of another three. If all purchase rights are exercised, the deal is worth $299.4 million at list prices.

An airline Chief Operating Officer told The Guardian that the local carriers had made Nigeria proud with the “strategic investments” and worth “compensating” by the authorities.

“Following in the footsteps of Air Peace, they (Ibom and Overland) have gone for efficient narrow-body aircraft that can fit well into our environment and dominate the region. This is fantastic. But my worry is this, add Iboms’ 10 aircraft to Overland’s three or six and Air Peace’s 13, you have at least 26 brand new aircraft that is added to over 50 already in operation. Is the airport expanding its hold areas to accommodate all of them?

“That is where the ‘compensation comes in. The operators have done very well and the government should complement this effort with better infrastructure. It makes no sense to keep having multiple airports that close operations at 5:30 pm daily when air travel is just reaching its peak globally. Air Peace terminal in Lagos still has just one boarding gate to serve its multiple aircraft. That is room for flight delays every day and aircraft under-utilisation. So, let the authorities’ reason along with the operators and get serious with their statutory duties,” he said.

Secretary-General of the Aviation Safety Round Table Initiative (ASRTI), Group Capt. John Ojikutu (rtd), said the civil aviation rules are clear on the airport development programme, which includes the expansion of passengers’ terminal buildings, passengers’ holding areas before departure and arrival, car parks, shuttle bus services between terminals, hold or checked-in baggage, cargo warehouses, and check-in counter. Read more

Airlines Rally Governments to Simple, Practical Safety Measures

Global airlines have called on governments to adopt simple, predictable and practical measures to safely and efficiently facilitate the ramping-up of international travel as borders re-open.

The airlines, under the aegis of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), urged governments to focus on simplified health protocols, digital solutions to process health credentials, and COVID-19 measures proportionate to risk levels with a continuous review process.

The industry’s vision to address the complexity is outlined in the newly released policy paper: “From Restart to Recovery: A Blueprint for Simplifying Travel.”

IATA’s Deputy Director-General, Conrad Clifford, said as governments are establishing processes to re-open borders, in line with what they agreed in the Ministerial Declaration of the ICAO High-Level Conference of COVID-19, the blueprint will help them with good practices and practical considerations.

Clifford said over the next months, “we need to move from individual border openings to the restoration of a global air transport network that can reconnect communities and facilitate economic recovery.”

The blueprint aims to facilitate the efficient ramping-up of global connectivity. “We must have processes in place to safely and efficiently manage the ramping-up of international travel as borders re-open. With over 18 months of pandemic operational experience and traveller feedback, we know that a laser focus on simplicity, predictability and practicality is essential.

“That is not the reality today. Governments worldwide have implemented over 100,000 COVID-19 related measures. This complexity is a barrier to global mobility that is exacerbated by the inconsistencies these measures have created among states,” Clifford said.

To simplify health protocols, the airlines recommended removing all travel barriers (including quarantine and testing) for those fully vaccinated with a WHO-approved vaccine. Also, enable quarantine-free travel for non-vaccinated travellers with a negative pre-departure antigen test result.

These recommendations are supported by public opinion research of travellers, which revealed that 80 per cent believe that vaccinated people should be able to travel freely; 81 per cent believe that testing before travel is an acceptable alternative to vaccination and 73 per cent believe that quarantine is not necessary for vaccinated travellers.

“Travel is important. Pre-pandemic, some 88 million livelihoods were directly connected to aviation. And the inability to travel freely by air has impacted the quality of life for billions of people. We know that travellers feel confident with the implementation of the COVID-19 safety measures. Read more

Embraer Displays World’s Most Efficient and Sustainable Single-Aisle Commercial Jet at the Selangor Aviation Show

Making its appearance at the first edition of the Selangor Aviation Show is Embraer’s E195-E2, the world’s most efficient and sustainable single-aisle jet. Showcasing a stunning “TechLion” livery that covers the entire aircraft’s fuselage, the E195-E2’s presence at the Selangor Aviation Show comes after the aircraft’s presence at the Dubai Air Show earlier in the month. Featuring Embraer’s two by two passenger seating, the commercial jet sits up to 146 passengers.

“We are thrilled to have Embraer’s participation and sponsorship at our inaugural Selangor Aviation Show, it reflects their vote of support they have for Selangor’s aspirations of being ASEAN’s aviation hub,” said Dato’ Hasan Azhari, Chief Executive Officer, Invest Selangor Berhad. “The E195-E2 on display shows how a regional jet equipped with the latest technologies and the lowest fuel and noise emissions can bring a new dimension to domestic and regional travel.”

“With its new design and technology, the E195-E2 is the world’s most efficient single-aisle aircraft. This jet-powered aircraft emits 25% less emissions per seat than a typical turboprop and has the lowest levels of external noise and emissions among all jet aircraft.” said Arjan Meijer, President & CEO of Embraer Commercial Aviation.

Embraer foresees demand of 60 new commercial aircraft under 150 seats in Malaysia over next 10 years

In its 2021 market outlook, Embraer foresees a demand of 60 new commercial aircraft under 150 seats in Malaysia over the next 10 years. Driving this demand is the opportunity for aircraft under 150 seats to complement larger aircraft prevalent in the country and enhance the viability of establishing new routes or increasing the frequency of existing routes. This includes the boosting of direct connectivity within Peninsula Malaysia, as well as connectivity between cities in Peninsula Malaysia to East Malaysia (Sabah and Sarawak).

“We see potential for domestic and regional connectivity to multiply in Malaysia. It’s a win-win for all, domestic tourism thrives and passengers get to travel to new destinations with the comfort of a modern commercial jet,” said Meijer. “Airlines can deploy these regional jets with the assurance of its low operating costs and superior aircraft performance, coupled with its green credentials. Incorporating the E-Jets E2’s new technologies and enhanced operations is a key step on the path to a more sustainable aviation industry.”

With a range of 2600nm (~5.5 hours of flight time), the E195-E2 is the largest of the three aircraft in the E-Jets E2 family. It entered into service at the end of 2019 following type certification from three major world regulatory authorities – the FAA (U.S. Federal Aviation Administration), EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency) and ANAC (the Brazilian Civil Aviation Agency). It is currently operated by KLM, which has 53 Embraer E-Jets in its fleet, Azul which operates 55 E-Jets and flies to more than 100 destinations in Brazil, as well as airlines in Switzerland, Spain, Belarus and Nigeria.

Embraer is the world’s leading manufacturer of commercial jets that seat up to 150 passengers. The commercial aircraft manufactured by Embraer are being operated by airlines in more than 130 airlines across over 70 countries, including airlines in the US (all the major carriers), British Airways, KLM, Japan Airlines and airlines in China.

Sources: Daily Trust, This Day, Embraer, Guardian