54 BUSINESS Nigeria’s air traffic growth impressive – Captain Hayes
Captain Robert Emmanuel Hayes is the first Nigerian pilot and the country’s pioneer captain. He received the 2017 KARIS Award organised by the Household of God Church in Lagos. The 83-year in an encounter with journalists bares his mind on the state of Ni
Daily Trust: How do you feel clinching the KARIS Award? I am truly excited. I have attended other events of similar nature but it was a unique occasion. I felt extremely and highly honoured by this KARIS Award.
Capt. Hayes: You said Nigeria has prospects for Air traffic growth. What is the prospect?
The question of traffic growth is entirely an individual choice of people who want to travel. Government only ensures safe navigation. But by and large, I observed that Nigerians love travelling a lot, especially by air. And I think that has brought into question the number of airlines that are now establishing in the country and growing foreign airlines. The traffic growth is phenomenal and the potentials appear good, that is why many of them are coming here. I would want to say that the growth is not only at any specific time of the year, it is all the year round. People are just moving around, especially to Europe and America.
DT: What is your take on government’s plan to bring back the National carrier?
Probably they realised that we have had many airlines that have been floated and had come into the sector and have not been able to make it on their own. A lot of them have fallen by the way side. There might be a lot of other reasons but I believe funding is very important in the operation of an airline. If you are not able to sustain enough fund, you cannot support that airline commercially, because private ones go out there for the profit. For Nigeria Airways or Air Nigeria for whatever name it is going to be given to it, will have to support the country. What I really want to impress is that whether we like it or not, those social services that have been cut back, will now obviously come back to stream. And the country would have to support those service utilities. I hope that the question of government’s interest will be a good thing because apart from the commercial advantage that will accrue from profitable operation. There should be proper training facility and engineering structure to be able to expand the airline and make it worthwhile to become a very successful airline. I think the potentials are there. A lot of the smaller airlines now only cater for their own domestic needs while the concept of Nigeria Airways would attract the training of more Nigerians technically in operations, maintenance and in expansion all over the world.
DT: All the domestic airlines put together have about 40 aircraft, can’t they work together to form a stronger airline?
Well, it depends on the individual investors. On that score, I believe most of these people want to operate on their own without someone breathing down their neck. I think in my view it would have been better if a lot of these airlines can come together and invest in one airline. That way it will make a lot of sense and would be more profitable or stronger, technically and commercially. Nigeria airlines need to abide by the rule of the game, not only within the country but also across routes all over the world. It is an expensive investment and I think that is where the question of getting all the airlines together and form a strong unit comes in. I believe if well organized, it will be more profitable. As far as I know, I don’t see any effort being made in that respect. The airlines themselves just want to operate with their own identity. But given the opportunity of common carrier concept, I think they will do better if they can come together and set up a strong airline. Nigerians obviously will have confidence in that respect.
DT: Do you have any misgivings about how Nigeria Airways was liquidated?
I think government must have had its reasons why they wanted to scuttle the airline at the time they did. I may not have all the facts on why they decided to stop the operation of the airline. Government was the sole investor of the airline. They felt the airline was not making enough profit or not meeting the demands of Nigerians. Obviously, they must have had the reasons why they did not want to continue with the operations of the airline.