The first jointly
hosted African Business Aviation Association
Regional Symposium and Nigerian Business Aviation
Conference highlighted the need for regional
stakeholders to collaborate to make real change
happen. At
the end of the two-day event, held at the Eko Hotel
Lagos, 24 and 25 March,
Segun Demuren
CEO of local organisers EAN Aviation, pledged to
form and launch a new Nigerian business aviation
organisation within 90 days. Work has already begun
on forming the administration and board of the AfBAA
Nigeria Chapter which will be launched by July.
The announcement
was made following two days of presentations and
panels that clearly demonstrated local operators,
suppliers, brokers and government bodies all derive
benefit from meeting in a dedicated environment to
create mutual understanding that can positively
affect business aviation in the region. The AfBAA
Nigeria Chapter will follow the template of the
first AfBAA Country Chapter which was launched in
Addis Ababa in May 2016. It has already succeeded
under the guidance of local President
Dawit Lemma,
MD of Krimson Plc, in making great strides in
raising the business aviation profile in Ethiopia.
The AfBAA Nigeria Chapter will receive ongoing
support, guidance and direction from the continent’s
official association. “This is exactly the kind of
positive action we welcome at these events, and look
forward to working with, supporting, and
participating in the organisation’s future,”
commented
Rady Fahmy,
CEO of AfBAA. “I encourage all those involved in
Nigerian business aviation to join the association
to maximise the knowledge sharing opportunities,”
added Fahmy.
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Segun
Demuren welcomes Nigerian helicopter
operators to the first dedicated rotary
panel. |
This was welcome
news for national attendees who have had a
particularly challenging time following the
reduction in oil prices, the Nigerian recession, and
a scarcity of Forex. Combined these phenomena have
reduced purchasing power, stalled jet transactions
and slowed business development. However, Demuren
noted that opportunities do exist, and have been
bolstered by the appointment of an aviator as the
Minister for Aviation,
Senator Hadi
Sirika.
Some 150 delegates
agreed that challenges need to be approached with a
coordinated strategy. There were numerous calls for
stakeholders to submit a list of priorities through
the new association to begin to lobby for change to
deal with the varying issues of grey charter,
complex and long AOC applications, and excessive
import taxes for jets and spare parts.
Group Captain
Edem Oyo-Ita,
Director of Air Transport Regulation at the Nigerian
Civil Aviation Authority stated that the CAA was
willing and ready to collaborate with the sector. He
acknowledged the need to amend parts of the aviation
regulatory structure that had originally been
formulated for commercial aviation. Delegates
applauded the significant progress that has already
been made by the CAA in creating an automated permit
process making it easier for unscheduled last minute
requests to be processed in a timely manner.
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Group
Captain Edem Oyo-Ita, Director of Air
Transport Regulation at the NCAA agrees
to explore more ways of supporting
business aviation |
Several new
additions to this year’s schedule were well
received. A dedicated helicopter operators panel
with representatives from Bristow Helicopters,
Nestav Aviation, and Caverton Helicopters,
congratulated the chief pilot of Genesis Global
Aviation,
Captain Abayomi Coker,
on the recent awarding of its AOC. Continuing the
challenge as opportunity theme the panel discussed
the notion of exploring operational diversification
in the tourism, medevac, security, bullion
movements, and emerging mining markets.
The first Women in
Aviation panel was also well received by the
predominantly male audience who confirmed that women
bring a diverse and valuable set of qualities to
business aviation including relationship building,
efficiency, loyalty, organisation and a balanced
view of business opportunities. A call was made for
AfBAA to raise the profile of the sector’s
opportunities for women, and to create engaging,
attractive strategies that would appeal to women at
early stages of their career selection.
A meet the
operators speed-networking session also spawned new
relationships as Nigerian operators met with local
and international suppliers keen to work with them,
whilst potential customers took the opportunity to
search for the right aircraft for their specific
mission.
Nick Fadugba,
the chair for this year’s meeting closed the event
suggesting that Nigerian Business Aviation must work
harder, closer, collaboratively, and with one common
purpose to enhance business aviation in Nigeria. As
one delegate quipped, “Nigeria should be heaven for
business aviation.” With the launch of the AfBAA
Nigeria Chapter organisers expect this to the be the
first step in that direction. |