Nigeria’s aviation sector crashing
• Airlines in the country generally have a short life span: in 35 years more than 40 operators have gone bust, including Nigeria Airways
Nigeria may consider itself a regional aviation hub but years of mismanagement and recession have blighted domestic airline operations, making delays and cancellations the norm.
Industry experts say the sector needs a fundamental overhaul, pointing to opaque management practices, rampant corruption and risks for passengers from security and dilapidated infrastructure.
Arik Air, which has a 60% share of domestic flights and is the country’s biggest private carrier, has found itself increasingly in the firing line of disgruntled passengers.
Earlier this month, irate passengers beat up one of its executives at Lagos international airport after the third consecutive cancellation of their flight to Johannesburg.
In December, Arik operations were grounded by a 24hour strike by employees demanding the payment of seven months’ arrears in salary.
There was no response from Arik when asked to comment on the situation.
Other domestic operators are struggling. Aero Contractors, the second-biggest carrier, stopped services for four months at the end of last year because of “serious financial difficulties”.
For John Ojikutu, an aviation security consultant, most Nigerian airlines run their businesses like a grocery store. “They just want to make profit,” he said.
The result is that airlines in Nigeria generally have a short lifespan: in 35 years more than 40 operators have gone bust, including Nigeria Airways, which collapsed in 2003.
Ojikutu said the airlines were heavily in debt and “taking advantage” of the country. “People are … operating without paying the fuel marketers, without paying their staff, without paying for the services they’re given [insurance, maintenance],” he said.
“If they are not making profit, the question is what do they really do with all this money? They are selling tickets every day. As long as we don’t have a strong, credible, independent regulatory agency we cannot have a viable aviation industry in this country.”
In their defence, the airlines blame a lack of foreign currency that has left them unable to pay fuel suppliers or, in some cases, landing charges at airports outside Nigeria. Nigeria is one of Africa’s main oil producers but is forced to export crude and import petroleum products because of a lack of domestic refining capacity.
The fall in the price of crude on international markets has seen the naira currency lose value against the dollar and Nigerian banks no longer have enough liquidity.
Foreign airlines such as United and Iberia have stopped flights to Nigeria because of difficulties in repatriating profits in dollars.
In September 2016, members of the house of representatives asked the government to declare a state of emergency in the aviation sector, saying 160,000 jobs were at risk.
MPs also called for an investigation into the alleged misappropriation of 120-billion naira ($375m) of public funds in 2012 meant to modernise the sector.
Another major challenge is upgrading ageing infrastructure, which cannot handle the millions of passengers who now travel every day through Nigerian airports.
From early March for example, the airport in Abuja will close for six weeks for major resurfacing work on the only runway serving the federal capital. The runway, which was built in 1982 with a lifespan of 20 years, is now “completely gone” and “unsafe for operation”, according to Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika.
Passengers for Abuja will have to land at Kaduna, about 200km to the north, and transit to the capital by bus on a road known for frequent kidnappings.
The airport closure is the talk of Abuja, underlining not just Nigeria’s reliance on air transport but the lack of a viable alternative.