Nigerian airlines have a marked failure in operating international destinations. Industry observers argue that Nigerian carriers are never prepared; that their desire to operate beyond the West Coast to London, Johannesburg, New York, Dubai, etc is gingered more by passion, ego than pragmatism.
They noted that indigenous airlines rarely meet the standard of other operators on the routes by operational aircraft, in-flight service, in-flight entertainment and timeliness.
Over the years, no Nigerian airline has successfully operated long haul destinations, except the defunct Nigeria Airways that flew on the wings of government support and goodwill. The defunct Bellview Airways aspired farther to far-flung destinations like India but did not last long on the route. So were Okada and others whose first long-haul destination was the beloved London. Even at a time, the Nigeria Airways could not go to London and hard to partner British Airways in a profitable commercial arrangement that earned the former national carrier some revenues from BA flights.
Then Virgin Nigeria Airways failed with such unassailable reputation and expectation and did not last long in its flights to London, Johannesburg and Dubai. Arik Air was able to sustain its international destinations of London, Johannesburg, New York for years but not without hiccups. It failed in its Dubai operation.
This raised the question, why is it that Nigerian airlines fail when they operate international destinations? A retired aircraft pilot told THISDAY that Nigerian airlines are not well prepared when they operate international destinations. He said they do not prepare well to compete and even when Nigerian passengers patronise them as their own, they disappointment them over time.
The pilot who is also an operator said that Nigerian airlines don’t plan well; that if they plan well they would be able to know the possible hindrances and then nip them before starting the operation, adding that an airline must have available aircraft it can deploy within few hours as alternative to operating aircraft.
“I ask myself, why should I leave Emirates and board Nigerian flight if I am going to Dubai? I will do that if I’m going to get similar service. I may be attracted to the Nigerian carrier because of its relatively low fare and the fact that I will want an airline from my country, but there is a limit I can take in a service that is not commensurate with my expectations.
“I have been in this industry for a long, long time and I know that if an airline prepares itself well it can not only survive in operating domestic destinations and regional operations but it will make huge profits on those routes. You must not go to London, New York, Johannesburg and Dubai. You must be well prepared if you want to succeed. There must be adequate equipment,†the seasoned pilot said.
Another industry insider advised Nigerian airlines to move beyond ego trip and stop the aspiration to operate long-haul flights; unless they take out time to study those routes and how they could operate such routes for a long time.
On Monday when Medview Airline announced the temporary suspension of its Dubai operation, the Managing Director of the airline, Alhaji Muneer Bankole explained why Nigerian airlines cannot compete with international carriers.
“On this part of the world, it is difficult to compete with the big boys on the other side if you do not have the resources. We are talking about having a capital base of $300million. We are looking for $2.3million from CBN (forex) to pay for the lease, the resources is the key. There is no place in this country or in this part of the world, where you have a basic Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility, such that if anything happens to the aircraft, you can maintain it. There is no spare parts vendor that can provide you support in 24 hours.
“In Europe, there are platforms that work for 24 hours. When you get the spare parts, transporting them into the country within 24hours is another challenge; otherwise, the aircraft will remain on ground. Also Customs procedure is another challenge. Whereas in some other countries, you pick your item and go, we have to go through the bottlenecks before you get approval. Unless these things change, we will continue to lag behind our competitors. They said we will not last six months but today we are over two years on the London route. We have a very good relationship with UK’s CAA (Civil Aviation Authority), European Union members and the vendors. We are carrying capacity to Gatwick. We have done well and we are still there and we will not leave,†Bankole said.
Travel expert, Ikechi Uko attributed the failure of Nigerian airlines on long haul destinations to poor planning.
“You have to plan for a long term. If you want to operate to Dubai, plan that you may have losses for one year. Do not expect to make profit so soon. That is what is done when you are developing a new route. If you introduce promotional fares let it last for a long time in order to build customers on the route. You also have to look at competition. Etihad Airways has increased its frequency; Emirates has resumed its Abuja- Dubai flights and has also resumed its second flight from Lagos; you should expect that this will affect your load factor,†Uko said.
However, Uko who is the organiser of Akwaaba African travel market said that Medview might have been sabotaged by authorities in London by the banning of its operational aircraft, thereby forcing it to lease alternative.
“Banning that Boeing B767 was sabotage. The leased aircraft messed them up because they took the plane in a hurry. UK authorities did not want to know that. When you lease aircraft you operate with very low margin. That is Nigeria losing money there,†Uko added.
