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Air Peace Breaks Flight Time Record with E195 E2 on Lagos-Johannesburg Route. By Daisy BARRO

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  Photo: Simpleflying Air Peace, Nigeria’s largest airline, set a new flight time record on October 9, 2022 with its E195 E2 when it plied the Lagos-Johannesburg route in 6h 16min – a distance of 2,803 miles (4,511km), and the longest ever covered during a scheduled flight operated with an Embraer aircraft. According to Flightradar24 and as reported by Simpleflying, flight P47563 took off from Nigeria at 02:44 and arrived Johannesburg 5h 15min later (09:36 local time); but on return, P47564 departed Johannesburg at 12:09 and arrived Lagos at 17:25. Even though the flight departed Johannesburg 39min behind schedule, it arrived Lagos 55min late most likely due to headwind, as the same aircraft model is on record for completing a similar route in just 5h 33min. Experts opine that for the jet to have exceeded its real-world range, a payload restriction would have been required, unless of course, the aircraft was already relatively light with a reduced fuel burn rate, consequently gaining
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NAMA Prepares for Upcoming Airports; Revamps Air & Ground Communication Systems Nationwide - By Daisy BARRO

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Nigerian Air Management Agency (NAMA) is working to improve air-ground communication at airports across the country to ensure that upcoming airports especially, are equiped to communicate according to industry best practices. Speaking to journalists on Friday, the Acting Managing Director (MD) of NAMA, Mr. Matthiew Lawrence Pwajok said: "In the past, there were eight (08) satellite stations, but due to the fact that airports are coming up in Bayelsa, Anambra, Ekiti, Osun, Abeokuta and elsewhere, we have had to increase the number of satellite stations from eight (08) to fourteen (14), with some of them strategically installed in Benin, Enugu, Calabar, Jos, Kaduna, Sokoto, Maiduguri, Kano and Abuja to enhance communication between pilots and Air Traffic Controllers in the upper air space." The NAMA chief went on to reveal that the Agency has completely overhauled all the Landing Systems in over ten (10) airports, replacing them with brand new Doppler VOR navigational gear: &qu
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AFRAA Continues Quest for Closer Ties with Membership; Holds CEOs Dialogues with ET – By Daisy BARRO

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  African Airlines Association (AFRAA) has completed yet another edition of AFRAA Member Airlines CEOs Leadership Dialogues, this time with Ethiopian Airlines (ET) as focal point. The Dialogue, which is the 7 th held by the Association this year, took place at ET’s headquarters in Addis Ababa – Ethiopia between an envoy from AFRAA consisting of AFRAA Secretary General (SG), Mr. Abderahmané Berthé, Mr. Raphael Kuuchi, Director Government, Legal & Industry Affairs; and a delegation representing ET: Mr. Mesfin Tasew Bekele, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ethiopian Airlines (ET) Group; Mr. Girma Wake, ET’s Board Chairman among others. Top on the agenda were pressing issues such as currency repatriation; taxes and charges and implementation of the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) – all of which were addressed in detail. According to the AFRAA boss, “We are pleased to have met Ethiopian Airlines – one of AFRAA’s founding member airlines - for the CEOs Dialogues. Today
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ASRT Advocates Interlining, Codeshare Between Nigerian Airlines - By Daisy BARRO

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  Dr. Gbenga Olowo, President, ASRT. Aviation Safety Round Table (ASRT) has advocated for interlining and codeshare between Nigerian domestic airlines as a means of increasing their profitability. This was the core message of the recently concluded Quarter 1 Aviation Safety Round Table Initiative (ASRTI) Breakfast Webinar which held on April 29, 2021. During the meeting, it was noted that interlining and codeshare between airlines can minimize the losses airlines incur due to flight cancellations and unused seats on an aircraft. Elimination of these factors can potentially provide a better travel experience for passengers and generate more revenue for airlines; which is a win-win situation for both parties. It was acknowledged that despite the above advantages of partnership between airlines, it is an herculean task to attain any sort of collaboration between airlines that do not consider themselves peers; do not have mutual trust and do not operate similar business models. It is
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Arik Air: We Are Resuming Flights to Maiduguri - By Daisy BARRO

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  The Management of Arik Air recently revealed that the airline is set to recommence flights from the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja to Maiduguri, effective Monday May 10, 2021. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Arik Air, Captain Roy Illegbodu expressed his delight with the present state of affairs: “We are delighted to introduce our services to Maiduguri, following popular demand by our customers for Arik’s presence in the city.” He went ahead to assure members of the flying public that Arik is committed to their safety, and will ensure their comfort and security as they patronize the airline. For the time being, Arik will operate four weekly flights from Abuja to the Borno State capital – flights which are scheduled for Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.  
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Global Air Cargo Demand Up By 4.4% in March 2021 - By Daisy BARRO

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  The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has released data for global air cargo markets for the month of March, 2021, revealing that demand for air cargo was at an “all time high” during the said month. The following analysis compares data recorded in March 2021 with that of March 2019 (and not March 2020) because of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts which were heaviest between 2020 and early 2021. The increase (4.4%) in cargo demand (measured in cargo tonne-kilometers – CTKs) recorded in March 2021 was significantly higher compared to March 2019. Growth rose by 0.4% compared to February 2021, though this increase in demand is considered insignificant compared to the growth recorded in February 2019 (9.2%). Global capacity (measured in available cargo tonne-kilometers – ACTKs) continued its recovery in March 2021 and was up 5.6% compared to the previous month. Still, capacity remained at 11.7% below that recorded before COVID-19 (March 2019) – a situation which has
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Azman Air Gets Nod from NCAA; Set to Resume Operations - By Daisy BARRO

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  Azman Air, Boeing 737-500 with registration 5N-SYS   Azman Air is set to resume operations after getting the go ahead from the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA). This comes after the airline complied with safety recommendations from the regulator and effectively carried out the Corrective Action Plan (CAP). The news was divulged by Azman Air via a tweet in which the airline reiterated its commitment to maintaining safety standards for its passengers and crew: “Having satisfactorily undergone the safety audit and implemented the Corrective Action Plan as recommended by the regulatory body (NCAA), we are pleased to inform the general public that the suspension is hereby lifted. This was confirmed in a meeting held between the Management of Azman Air and NCAA on May 1, 2021. The underlying purpose of this journey is safety and we can assure the general public that we are committed to raising the standard when it comes to safety of crew, equipment and passengers”, the tweet re
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