Airline Operators reject Africa Open Skies Agreement
Airline Operators under the auspices of the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) and the Aircraft Operators Association of Nigeria (AOAN) have kicked against Federal Government’s commitment to the full implementation of the Africa open skies policy.
The airline operators who stressed that they were not carried along at the earlier stage of the discussions which led to the endorsement of the implementation of the policy, argued that what the government needed to do was to create an enabling environment for Nigerian airlines to consolidate its growth locally, before opening its skies to the continent.
The Nigerian government is a signatory to the open skies agreement through the Single Africa Air Transport Market (SAATM), which would be fully implemented in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia the 23 member countries by Friday this week.
The open sky for Africa allows easy entry and exit of African airlines to the airspace of each country without immigration hindrances in order to enhance connectivity, tourism and trade among African countries.
Speaking during a sensitisation workshop on the implementation of Single Africa Air Transport Market (SAATM), the President of AON, Captain Nogie Meggison, argued that there is no level playing field for Nigeria to compete with other African carriers, some of which still enjoy some protectionism, lower interest rate on loans and waivers on import duty for aircraft and spares.
Meggison, said before taking decisions, Nigeria’s technical team should have been carried along so that they could deliberate on how the policies would benefit the country.
“We must put Nigeria first. If we open the skies, what advantages does Nigeria stand to gain? The domestic airlines are not comfortable with the policy. Do we have visas to travel around Africa before we open the skies? Are the taxes in Nigeria and that of other countries uniform?” Meggison queried.
According to him, in order to discourage competition, some African states particularly target Nigerian airlines and charge them outrageous levies when they operate to those countries, including charging as much as $5,000 as landing fee, while Nigeria charges them about $200.
He recalled that when Air Peace wanted to operate to Abidjan, they charged it $5,000 per landing.
“Are they opening the sky on a level playing ground? African airlines easily access foreign exchange, but Nigerian airlines don’t. Rwanda Air is government owned. I borrow money at 28 per cent interest rate, while other African airlines borrow money at two per cent interest rate. As a result of policies on ground, over 50 airlines have gone under in Nigeria. Let us first address our own issues before implementing the open skies policy,” Meggison said.
Speaking in the same vein, Chairman, AOAN, Muhammed Joji, affirmed that Nigeria still don’t have the right policies in place to facilitate air travel in the country as well as support the open skies agreement.
“We buy aircraft parts in dollars and the zero duty on aircraft parts importation is still not effective. The authorities in place deny us lands to build Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility for our aircraft repairs and they still charge us double taxation. How can we compete effectively with the other airlines” Joji asked.
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