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As domestic airlines continue to lament Nigeria’s difficult business environment, the lack of infrastructure, multiple taxation and poor access to funding appear to feature more among the many challenges plaguing the operators.
At the 27th League of Airports and Aviation Correspondents (LAAC) annual conference which held in Lagos recently, the Chief Executive Officer of Med-View airlines, Muneer Bankole, proffered some solutions that could help operators to mitigate some of the challenges facing domestic operators.
He spoke on several other issues of national interest. Excerpts.
How Nigeria’s aviation sector can cope with changing times
The development we had in the past months to the extreme challenge of our foreign partners like travel agencies and other stakeholders, hardly anybody would be able to buy a ticket, not even economy or business class travelling out of Lagos to any destination. This is because the foreign carriers put themselves together as a force, working with IATA representatives, putting a lot of challenges to the industry, which has no bearing on anybody; take it or leave it. We should ask ourselves, how did we get here? You buy tickets locally, you run the business locally and you have a special window for customers who want to pay in dollars. Business should be flowing that way.
Why domestic airlines are not globally competitive. There is no way we can compete with any foreign airline. The environment we are in is not the same environment the foreign airlines operate in.
The environment we are in here determines that anywhere you want to go, you have to lay it on the table. I have gone to precisely 17 countries to do registration under BASA without any hitch.
Internationally I had seven, regionally, I had seven. I had an average of 14, which means I was countries like Jeddah, Sierra Leone, Dubai, UK, and applied to Portugal. When I was in the UK, American people came to meet me and asked me when are you coming? I divided the West Coast into two. The Anglophone and the Francophone and I touched all the taps to let them know that those were the things we were doing for them to bring them to Lagos and from Lagos, they will come and buy and take them back home. Lagos used to be their London. Those were the experiences I brought to the market and I decided in late 2005. I have grown in this industry. Whatever any airline or airlines are eating today is food made by some of us.
‘Selfish interests’ inhibiting growth of sector
Things can still change for the better. For instance, we told them that there was no need when the government was setting up Nigeria Air. This country can fly anywhere. What we need is to call stakeholders to the table to chart a path for the industry, remove selfish interests or selfish mindsets and we can begin to identify that it is still possible and it is possible.
Domestic airlines need collaboration to breakeven
We are making a grave mistake. I will tell you honestly that all those who run into airlines telling people that BASA is one-sided, it is absolutely not correct. The reciprocity that we are talking about is nothing. I visited London, Virgin came up and everybody wanted to fly to Nigeria because this is the market.
How many of our people want to go there? We went there. There are four airports in the UK and they are Heathrow, Gatwick, London City Airport, and Stansted Airports.
We asked them, where do you want Med-View to fly? I did a study and I chose Gatwick. They are calling on Med-View to come back. The reason they are calling us to come back is because we opened up the business for the world to see and Nigerians were going and coming. The airport was nothing to write home about then and that is BASA for you. We are not going to say that somebody has 15 frequencies.
Nobody has said to us that we should not come, but you must meet their requirements. Nigerian airlines should come together. There is no sentiment about it. You have 17 aircraft, and you have five aircraft, go and put heads together and discuss with a good mind, open your heart, and let people know who is speaking so that Nigeria can drive a new way forward.
