Chinelo Obogo, [email protected]
After 10 failed attempts to float a Nigerian National carrier, there are still greater apprehension among aviation stakeholders as the Federal Government tinkers with the 11th in the series to launch a brand new airline to compete for the juicy travel market where Africa remains a fringe player.
The continent’s poorly developed aviation infrastructure has left its airlines with a paltry 6 per cent of world’s air traffic according to latest industry reports.
This abysmal performance on the global stage has further been compounded by high taxes, including regulatory agencies charges, rising cost of jet fuel and its less buoyant aviation industry.
But despite the above challenges, recent developments in the sector seem to suggest that African skies are becoming busier and countries are increasingly working towards having successful national carriers to get a bite of the growing industry pie.
For instance, 20 years after the demise of its carrier, Uganda recently re-launched its national carrier, while the government of South Africa has consistently been there to bail out its struggling national carrier to prevent it from collapsing. Ethiopian airline which is presently one of the most dominant and fastest growing airlines in Africa prides itself as the new spirit of Africa but remains completely autonomous from government interference.
Other countries countries like Ghana and Zambia are likely to partner with it to run their own airlines.
Unfortunately since the demise of Nigeria’s national carrier, Nigerian Airways, due to mismanagement, the Federal Government has unsuccessfully made 10 attempts to float a carrier and the plans by the current administration to set up one will make it the 11th of such efforts. In its commitment to launch a carrier, the government had set up a committee to deliberate on the modalities that would lead to a successful venture and one of the recommendations of the committee was that the government will have no more than 10 percent share or even less to make it a private sector driven enterprise.
In line with this thinking, the Minister for Aviation, Captain Hadi Sirika, told Nigerians that much progress has been made to speed up the launch of a carrier and that the implementation of the outline business will begin soon. “The outline business case has been brought by the consultants and is being looked at and implementation will begin soon. We would advertise and invite people to come and partner in the PPP to produce this airline and I believe that we will get it right this time around,” he said.
However, as expected views by industry experts on the need for a carrier remain largely divided and diverse. Those in support believe that if it succeeds, it will not only create employment oppourtunities, but will increase tourism and revenue but not without some caveats. But those against the project say national carriers are not profitable and are rather outdated. ‘National carrier without sound policy infrastructure, would amount to a waste of time’
At the annual Akwaaba festival recently held in Lagos, Chris Aligbe, an aviation expert and former image maker of the defunct Nigerian Airways, advocates for a national carrier, but says that the caveat is that it has to come with improved airport infrastructure.
“There is no need telling stories about what has happened over the years. We have had 10 failed attempts to float a national carrier as a nation and we are on the 11th one. Whether we like it or not, we do not have an African standard airport in our country; I’m not saying a world class airport. Even if we set up the best airline in our country, the facilities to operate will not be there and that is why the twin challenge of a national airline and concessioned airports should be mandatory for us as a country. Therefore if we know that we want to join other aviation nations, we must take these twin problems along with us.
“I always say that we should never have a Nigerian airline like Nigerians Airways. If it happens like that the next day it will collapse. IF anybody goes along that line, I will be one of those who will protest for the simple fact that it is now how modern airlines should be run. I am happy that what is being proposed is that the government will have just five percent equity and it is not enough for the government to control that airline but it is enough to give the airline a sovereign cover.
“Virtually all airlines in Africa are national carriers, sometimes 100 percent owned but if we don’t have the discipline to manage them, then we shouldn’t set them up in the first place,” Aligbe said.
Federal, state governments should own 10 percent joint equity
Aviation consultant, Captain John Ojuikutu told Daily Sun that as long as the government has very minimal equity in the national carrier, foreign investors are brought in and the entire process is transparent, the carrier will have a high chance of success. “There is nothing wrong in having a national carrier. Anytime they say national carrier, everybody is always thinking it is owned by the government but it is not so. The fear of everybody is that it will be run down the way they ran down Nigerian Airways. Nigerian Airways was a national carrier but 10 years to its collapse, they turned it to a government airline and that was the reason for its collapse. Once we have a national carrier, you should have a share in it and I should have a share in it. A national carrier should have government shares but not controlling shares and I am happy that the minister made it known that the Federal Government will not have more than 5 percent share in it. I even said that to make it have a national outlook, the federal and state government should jointly share 10 percent.”
Are there any profitable national carriers?
An aviation expert, Alex Nwuba, argues that national carriers are not profitable in any part of the world. In an interview in Channels Television, he said “When we see airlines like British Airways, Air France or American airlines, these are not national carriers. Let’s look at what it takes to establish a national carrier and we then ask if there are any profitable national carriers? The answer is no. Am I in support of a national carrier, I’ve always said no.