AFTER three years of plying domestic routes, indigenous carrier, Medview Airlines recently commenced direct flight operations from the Murtala Muhammed International Airport Lagos into Gatwick Airport in the United Kingdom.
Managing Director/CEO of the airline, Alhaji Muneer Bankole, in this interview with Daily Sun noted while owners of local airlines were striving hard to make the requisite investments that will grow the Nigerian domestic industry at home and abroad, some government policies tended to stifle such investments.
For example, Bankole said there was the need for the government “to abolish multiple taxation which exists in the industry and which is killing domestic airlines.”
“We must also grant the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority the autonomy required to grow the industry,” he added.
Bankole also spoke about what propelled the airline into the lucrative and busy Lagos – London route, the choice of Gatwick airport ahead of Heathrow and the challenges the airline surmounted in securing the route.
EXCERPTS:
Bankole
The inaugural flight
First we have to appreciate God Almighty because the inaugural flight would not have been a success without God. The aircraft which we used for this inaugural flight, a Boing 767/300ER with a capacity for 30 business and 191 economy class seats is owned by Medview and we christened it ‘Abeke’ after my late mother. We thank First Bank for the assistance in sealing most of the deals on this flight.
We left Lagos right on schedule and we also arrived Gatwick right on schedule. So we have made it a policy which we can never compromise that we have to be reliable in terms of sticking to our time because that brings the confidence to passengers and we won’t default. And that is what we are doing on our domestic routes and in the Accra Ghana route. That is also what we will be doing on the Lagos – London route. Lagos – Gatwick is six hours 15 minutes. One thing you should have also noticed on that inaugural flight is that all the things that were served were local. And you also must have noticed that when we were about to take off there was a communication in a Nigerian language (Yoruba) after the Captain had ended his speech in English. You can’t get that on any other airline on that route. Then for our meals, we had vegetables, egusi, eforiro and then the cabin crew 99 per cent of them were Nigerians, with 80 per cent of those ladies you saw being Igbo.
And that give you a sense of a Nigerian carrier. And that also gives me a sense of fulfillment because of the jobs I have created for Nigerians and the relief the airline is bringing to Nigerian passengers on that route.
Securing the London route
Then let me say that anytime I sit outside and look at an aircraft in the sky I just can’t stop thanking God. It is one business that you have to be so honest about and you also have to get the right money to float an airline because it is God that controls something flying up there in the sky and there is no way you can bring in blood money into this type of business.
In the next couple of months come back and see the progress we would have made. You don’t understand the secret of this business unless you get the time always right with passengers because passengers get easily frustrated if you don’t keep to time.
You will agree with me that the Lagos – London route has remained one of the busiest routes in the world, yet for Nigerian travelers it has remained the most expensive. It is against this background, the need to assist stem the exorbitant are fare that we opted to enter the route as a Nigerian flag carrier. Our entry is designed or targeted among other things to supply the missing link, the added capacity, reasonable fare, good customer care and excellent in-flight entertainment. We bring along a lot of local content in our in flight dishes and entertainment as African meals will be served on board with a variety of music and films to compliment.
And in fact, what we are charging as introductory fare for our economy class is as low as N149, 000. I don’t know of any airline flying that route that charges as low as that because you usually spend something in the region of N350,000 to N400,000 as fares on that route. But the beauty of it is even in the fact that for anyone who purchases our ticket and agrees to fly with us from any of the cities we operate in Nigeria, he stands a chance to save a lot of money. Let me simplify it this way. If you reside in Port Harcourt and you buy the Lagos – London ticket at N149,000 what it does is that you can use it to fly from Port Harcourt to Lagos domestic airport and then you find your way to Lagos international airport and then off to Gatwick London on that same ticket. You save the cost of paying for the return ticket on the Port Harcourt – Lagos end of the journey. I think we have made things so easy and convenient for Nigerians on that route.
For some years, we had actually worked round the clock to secure all the necessary approvals needed to commence flight operations between Nigeria and United Kingdom. And we had great cooperation and encouragement from the Nigerian High Commission in the UK, the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA). At the end, we were able to secure all the approvals from the Nigerian CAA, the United Kingdom CAA and the Foreign Affairs Ministries of the two countries to commence direct flight operations between Nigeria and the UK.
We were able to secure slots at Gatwick Southern Terminal with limousine services for our business class passengers, good train services and bus connections to Victoria Station and various points in Central, South and East London. Well going to Gatwick means we have taken away the cost of Heathrow in our planning because at Heathrow they charge a lot of service bills. But it is not only about the charges, there is also the challenge of every airline converging at Heathrow airport. So why can’t we change to another airport that we are free to play the match. And you know Gatwick is concessioned to a Nigerian. Its so easy to connect London from Gatwick and then there are hundreds of Nigerian who need Gatwick to connect back home. So we are offering them that option.
For us we are so delighted to have commenced that flight on November 20, 2015 because that date marked exactly three years since we started scheduled commercial flight operation in Nigeria on November 2012. I don’t know of any airline in the country that on its third year will be flying an important route like the Lagos – London route and we give God all the praise. And mind you we have secured the Dubai route and what is left is for us to announce a date to commence operation.
Autonomy for NCAA
I feel that it is time we make it possible for the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to have its own autonomy. That is the main challenge that we have in the Nigerian aviation industry because all over the world that is what is obtainable. I have 17 countries in the world that is in my hand. If I tell you that whenever I travel to this country to do business either to sell Medview or do bilateral discussions we don’t go to their Aviation or Transport Ministry rather we go to their Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). Here in the UK where we just got the permit to fly the Lagos to London route I did not know where their ministry of transport of aviation is located. I don’t even know who their Minister is on aviation. All the documentation and requirements I needed to settle were done or settled at the UK CAA. So why are we doing something that negates global trend in Nigeria. Why are we doing something that is like a major setback to the industry? So this is something we need to eradicate. We should change this old idea. We need to allow the Nigerian CAA to have the autonomy that all other CAA world over have without interferences. When we get that right, a good foundation for the industry would have been established.
Challenges for local operators
Nigerian airlines are suffering. We don’t have anywhere in Nigeria where airplane parts are manufactured. So that means we go outside to buy spare parts at all times for our aircraft. We don’t have an aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility anywhere in Nigeria. So that also means any time an aircraft is due for repair or maintenance, we have to take it outside too. Now, the implication is that to fix spares and repair or maintain any aircraft in Nigeria, the owners of the airline must look for foreign currency which you know is so scarce and doesn’t also come cheap. That is the headache that we are carrying about and it is not a good story to tell considering that you have commitments to staff and other agencies of government as a business.
We complained about this challenge to the last government and they said ok you are talking points. And they said the only window we can open to you people is to allow you enjoy waivers on spare parts imported for aircraft which will also go a long way in saving the lives of Nigerians. And it was Gazetted and that means it had become a policy and ought to be implemented. But when that government left, another person from somewhere came out and said no the Customs have not been presented the letter and that was the end of the whole thing.
It’s a very tough terrain to operate. We do maintenance in dollars, we do training for our pilots in dollars. And I think the CBN will have to intervene because we have to tell them that the currency situation is so challenging for airlines. As I am talking to you now it is not easy. We are looking for money now even from the black market and it is not possible to get and what can we do. This is one challenge that the government needs to look into and we believe they are listening.
And then there is this other challenge which has to do with aviation fuel and which we have complained severally over the years to the government. The costs of fuelling aircraft in Nigeria is so exorbitant. And it is a great tragedy that for a country that is a major producer of crude oil airlines operating in the country run at a very difficult terrain as fuel alone takes more than 40 per cent of the total operational cost of the business. So can you tell me how airlines are recovering cost if they spend so much on fuel?
And then there are double charges paid by operators to regulatory or government agencies. These are the challenges that we face. The NCAA collects five per cent ticket sales tax from airlines and I think that that is enough for the government to ease the pressure on domestic airlines and assist them so that they can fly and remain profitable.
Because the money that the NCAA is collecting on passengers’ tickets and you can do the costing it is enough tax for the government.
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