New civil aviation policy bars private jets from commercial operations Air charter operators in Nigeria will likely begin to witness a business boom, as aviation authorities foreclose private jet owners from hiring out their aircraft. Business for the air charter operators had been strangulated over the past one year, on the back of a sudden and significant increase in the number of ‘private jets’, a term which refers to privately owned non-commercial aircraft. The new Nigerian Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP) released in April this year, has foreclosed private jet owners from engaging in charter business. Wings Aviation, Top Brass Aviation, Kings Airlines, Associated Airlines, Aerocontractors Airlines and VistaJets, are the major licensed charter operators in Nigeria, and are recognised by the new policy to provide such services. Prior to now, these listed charter companies had seen competition from unregistered operators who used their jets for commercial purposes. BusinessDay learnt that as a result of the business downturn, three registered charter operators had closed shop, while the others were losing revenue to illegal operators. Also, in recent times, many Nigerian business moguls, religious leaders and politicians who previously patronised charter operators, have been acquiring their own private jets. A cross section of analysts who spoke to Businessday said it is a good development for the charter business, but wonder if the policy would be implemented effectively. Aviation Minister, Stella Oduah, had said that the policy on jets and charter operation was last reviewed about 12 years ago, and that the new one is aimed at sanitising the system and aligning it with global standards. Part of the new policy says “for private aircraft owned or leased by individuals, only the family members of the owner / lessee of the aircraft will be permitted on board as passengers. For private aircraft owned or leased by companies or corporate entities, only the employees and members of the boards of directors of the companies will be permitted on board as passengers.” The new policy further states that “ all operators will declare the identities of all passengers on non- revenue charter flights in the appropriate General Declaration Forms, prior to obtaining ATC (Air Traffic Control) clearance.” An industry analyst said “with this, the ministry has curtailed the perceived excesses of the private jet owners who do not pay any dues to the country. That is one of the reasons government wants to know the manifest. This will limit the number of passengers on that jet, so that it will not be used as charter, when there are registered charter operators who can carry the persons”. Speaking on the matter earlier, Yakubu Dati, coordinating spokesman for Aviation Agencies had also lamented that charter services by private jets have become a lucrative business in the country because 80 per cent of these private jets have private licence, but carry out commercial operation. He added that these illegal charter operators have taken away substantial business from scheduled airlines because those that would have filled the business class cabin are now being airlifted by illegal private charter services. “This explains why our airlines are not growing. Instead of marked growth of our airlines, it is the number of private jets that is growing. This is an aberration, so government cannot fold its hands and watch this unfavourable situation which has already started affecting the nation’s economy, knowing the crucial role scheduled airline operation plays in any country.” He said government is now ready to put a check on the abuse of the use of private jets in Nigeria. Sam Akerele, a former director in the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, hailed the new restriction but expressed worry that the implementation may not go far. “Yes the Ministry said it was going to sanitise the system and it is good for the charter operators, but let us see how far this will work in a couple of months, that is when we can say the policy has come to stay”, he said. However, an analyst says as good as the law is, it should be enshrined in the Civil Aviation Act and not contained in the policy, for stricter enforcement. “Why is it that they cannot go to the United States of America and do that? This is because there is a severe law against that over there. The law says that you cannot operate private aircraft for reward or hire for reward. Here, people give out their airplanes to their friends and they use it for charter”. John Ojikutu, a former airport commandant also observed that even though the policy is meant to favour the business of licensed charter operators, he is of the opinion that it should also ‘specify and differentiate the type of aircraft/capacity meant for business/charter from those meant for private use’ for efficiency. By: Sade Williams Section: Business Headlines
Posted on: Fri, 14 Jun 2013 12:52:40 +0000
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