All Posts in "Aviation"

Malaysia approves Boeing 737 MAX’s return to Sky

By admin

 

The Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) has recertified the Boeing 737 MAX over two years after it grounded the jet.

The CAAM made its decision following a review of U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Boeing publications on the MAX’s return to service. The agency has also released a new safety directive for Malaysian and foreign MAX operators.

Malaysia ungrounds the 737 MAX
After grounding the Boeing 737 MAX in March 2019, Malaysia’s aviation authority has today approved the MAX’s return to the skies. The CAAM lifted its ban on the jet as it released a new safety directive, Safety Directive 01/2021, for both Malaysian and foreign operators of the MAX.
In the safety directive, the CAAM said,

“CAAM has reviewed and validated all applicable FAA and manufacturer publications on the Boeing 737 MAX in relation to its return to service. Based on these and all other related factors, CAAM has conducted a safety risk assessment (SRA) for thee return to service in Malaysia.”

The move comes around two and a half years after countries worldwide grounded the MAX in March 2019 after two fatal crashes. Despite several canceled orders in the immediate aftermath, flag carrier Malaysia Airlines retained its order for 25 MAX-8s. In May, the airline agreed with Boeing to defer delivery of its new jets until 2024.

Chester Voo, CAAM Chief Executive Officer, said, “The Safety Directive 01/2021 revokes the previous Safety Directive issued on March 13th, 2019, that prohibits the operations of the Boeing 737 MAX-8 in Malaysia.”

A new safety directive for MAX operators
The 737 MAX is cleared for Malaysian airspace, so long as operators comply with all requirements laid out by the CAAM. The requirements are laid out in the CAAM’s Safety Directive 01/2021 issued today, which draws heavily on the work done by the FAA and Boeing to get the MAX recertified.

According to the directive,“ [Operators must] implement all applicable elements contained in Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Airworthiness Directive AD 2020-24-02, FAA Flight Standardization Board Report (FSBR) on pilot training and any applicable updates/directives issued by FAA from time to time.”

Chester Voo also noted that the CAAM has closely followed the approval processes of other national aviation authorities, particularly the U.S FAA.

Voo added, “CAAM recognized the work of the FAA as the State of Design and accepted the comprehensive return-to-service requirements set by the FAA for the Boeing 737 MAX.”

Patoma Admin by — September 3, 2021 in Aviation 0
South African Airways return to the skies September 23

By admin

 

After almost a year with no flights and mothballed operations, South African Airways is ready to take off again. The airline has confirmed that it will resume flights on September 23rd, with bookings and travel credit redemptions open from September 6th.

SAA is back

The wait is finally over! South African Airways has announced a return to operations, with its first flights planned for September 23rd. Initial flights will connect Johannesburg and Cape Town with several other African countries, and will be open for bookings from September 6th.

The last 12 months have not been kind to South African Airways, as the airline went into the pandemic crisis already in a precarious financial position. The airline had been placed into administration in December 2019, and COVID only added to its woes. With the situation getting worse, the entire business was mothballed in September last year, and no flights have taken off since.

The airline exited business rescue at the end of April, with the groundwork laid for a return to operations. With the airline solvent and control handed back to the board and executive team, it was only a matter of time before the green light was given for a relaunch.

The airline says its initial flights will operate from Johannesburg to Cape Town, Accra, Kinshasa, Harare, Lusaka, and Maputo. It plans to restart more routes and expand its network as market conditions improve. Kgokolo added,

Everything falling into place

Since exiting business rescue, SAA’s team has been hard at work getting the airline ready to restart operations. Earlier this month, the airline reported having secured its Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) for both domestic and international flights, as reported in ch-aviation.com.

South African Airways Confirms Its Return To The Skies Next Month

Patoma Admin by — August 27, 2021 in Aviation 0
Olatunde-Agbeja decries dearth of Aviation personnel, lack of Air Traffic Controller’s Liability (ATCL) insurance policy

CHAIRMAN Boff and Company, Insurance Brokers Limited, Mr. Babajide Olatunde-Agbeja has deprecated the lack of Insurance practitioners with technical knowledge to underwrite aviation policies in Nigeria

Olatunde-Agbeja stated that the industry still depends on the international market to provide technical assistance to assess aviation risk before placement.

This is just as he decried that there is no Air Traffic Controller’s Liability (ATCL) insurance policy in place for the aviation industry in Nigeria musing various scenarios that may call for the need of such.

He made these observations known at the CHINET Aviation and Cargo conference while giving a presentation titled Insurance and Aviation in Nigeria

He canvassed a need for insurance practitioners to specialize for improved technical knowledge and robust underwriting of aviation policies and while the situation in Nigeria to developed nations, he drew a sharp contrast.

Agbeja said,” In the more-developed economies, insurance personnel specialize and stay in a department all their working lives, thereby gaining enough experience to underwrite a specific policy type within a few years of working.

“In Nigeria, we are trained to know everything and move from one department to the other.  Therefore, it is difficult and highly improbable for one to master the operations of any one department. To date, we depend on the international market to provide us with technical assistance to assess a risk before placement.

“Recently, NAICOM attempted to increase the paid-up capital of insurance and reinsurance companies in Nigeria, but a recent court case temporarily stalled the implementation.  With the high level/volume of finance necessary to run an aviation company, it stands to reason that the best friend of aviators should be the insurance industry.

On the ATCL he said,” At my last check, I was amazed to find out that there is no Air Traffic Controller’s Liability (ATCL) insurance policy in place for the aviation industry in Nigeria. What happens if a traffic controller mistakenly directs two aircrafts into each other’s path?

“We’ve had many claims of this nature over time worldwide with a few in Nigeria. An ATCL policy is compulsory for any aviation industry involved in ATC no matter how small the volume of traffic is.

He canvassed for an ATCL insurance policy to be purchased immediately by the relevant parastatal in the aviation industry.

Agbeja also said that the country in the eyes of the international community is still regarded as a risk because of events of the past which has led many to still maintain the status quo and has kept insurance premium at a high.

He said,” While it is true that the present Government has been diverting a lot of resources to the transport sector lately, there was a lot of rot in the system in times past.  Much equipment is obsolete and ineffective, leading many to believe that our airspace is unsafe.

“In addition, there has been many aviation accidents/incidents in the past few years including near misses which fuels this notion of unsafe airspace.

While our aviation personnel are well trained, the opportunities to operate in a robust manner are few because the airlines are few, with a limited number of aircraft, so many of these personnel are unemployed or under employed. With continuous employment, experience is gained, and one operates better.

Patoma Admin by — August 26, 2021 in Aviation 0
AIB goes digital on accident investigations

By Favour Nnabugwu

 

Nigeria Accident Investigation Bureau, AIB-N saidi it is set to change how final report of accident investigations is presented to the public to read.

The Chief Executive Officer of the AIB-N, Engr. Akin Olateru, explained that the initiative is ongoing ‘Industry Engagement on the review of Accident Reports’ event in Abuja

Engineer Olateru said AIB has improved the conventional air accident and incident reporting system as stipulated in the Annex 13 of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) recommendations, to a digitalized reporting system, which no country in the world has attained as far as accidents and incidents investigation and prevention reporting is concerned.

He said : “The fact is the world standard, which is ICAO, has a format of reporting the final reports that is hundred pages presented to the world and on website. What we are trying to do is to challenge the status quo, to actually find a better way of getting this to the public. Today, how many people are reading reports (accidents and incidents).

” You have this report about 300 pages of what happened, safety recommendations and so on. What we are trying to do is to digitalise in a graphic way with a data base of the same reports. We are going to be doing that very soon, to make it easier for the airlines to read, for anybody of interest to go to a particular section rather than flipping through pages of documents. If it is on human factors, you just click on the graphic and it will tell you everything on human factors”.

” If it is about engine, same thing applies. The whole essence is about simplifying the way we communicate with the rest of the world in terms of our by-product and it has been discussed at the highest level at ICAO and it’s being accepted. By the time we are done, Nigeria will be the first in the world that would come up with this format. That is what I mean by Nigeria will lead the world very soon in terms of accident investigation reporting system.”

” Looking at it critically, for any institution to progress and remain relevant, you need to invest in Research and Development, you need to have a feedback system to evaluate, re-evaluate how you do things; check your process and procedures and come up with a better way of doing things or a simplified way of doing things to enhance productivity and that is what we are doing in AIB.”

On when the project will kick-off, Olateru said AIB is presently at the procurement stage and that it will be up before the end of 2021. “We are going through our procurement stage, we should be ready before the end of the year that would come up stage.”

The AIB Commissioner revealed that the new initiative will be trademarked. He said: “When we are done, because we are making a lot of investment on this, Saudi Arabia has shown interest and partnering with us on this project because it is a great project that would change the world in terms of Annex 13 of Accident investigation.”

‘We will have a platform whereby airlines, stakeholders will subscribe; you have access to it to train your pilots, engineers and stakeholders in the industry. The press too can have access to it to update their information or satisfy their enquiries. There would be a norminal fee. In a way, AIB want to use this as an opportunity to drive internally generated revenue”, he added.

Patoma Admin by — August 25, 2021 in Aviation 0
Emirates Rolls Out Special Airbus A380 Livery to celebrate UAE @ 50

By admin

Emirates has rolled out a special Airbus A380 livery to celebrate 50 years of the United Arab Emirates.

The Airbus is one of a collection of aircraft from both the A380 and 777 families that are due to get the livery to recognize the country’s significant milestone.

Emirates is no stranger to placing special liveries on its aircraft. To celebrate the 2020 world expo in Dubai, many of its jets were adorned with yellow, green, and blue dots. Meanwhile, when a world record for the most nationalities on a flight was smashed, this led to a special livery too.

50 years of the United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates was founded on December 2nd, 1971. The country was initially founded with six of the seven Emirates that it consists of today, with Ras al-Khaimah joining on January 10th, 1972. As one of the country’s flag carriers, Emirates doesn’t want to let the special milestone pass without celebration.

So far, one of the airline’s Airbus A380 aircraft has been adorned with the special 50 years livery. A6-EVG first flew with the livery yesterday, visiting Frankfurt Airport. The German aviation hub seems popular for first A380 flights, with A6-EVN making its first passenger flight to the airport a couple of months ago.

According to data from ch-aviation.com, this Airbus A380 was delivered to Emirates on June 18th, 2019. Having made its first flight on October 18th, 2018, the plane is 2.83 years old, with a current market value listed at $78.39 million. Since delivery, the aircraft has operated 5,063 flight hours across 635 flight cycles as of March 31st.

Emirates isn’t going to stop with one plane when it comes to the 50 years celebration. The airline revealed that the livery would be applied to a number of its aircraft from the Boeing 777 and Airbus A380 families.

The livery is based on the color gold, as 50 years marks a golden jubilee. The words United Arab Emirates 50 are posted on the side of the plane, one side in English and one side in Arabic. The word Emirates is the same design that features on the airline’s other aircraft. Meanwhile, the logo designed to recognize 50 years is contained within the zero of 50.

Patoma Admin by — August 18, 2021 in Aviation 0
Airport concession not for State governments

By Favour Nnabugwu

 

Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika has declared the concession exercise of the Federal government is open to all qualified entities but not for State governments.

Sirika said no sub-national government will be allowed to participate in the concession of the nations four major international airports.

He made this known earlier today during a virtual stakeholder’s meeting to update on the concession of the four international airports: Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Port Harcourt International Airport and Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport.

The Minister who was responding to reactions from presentations at the conference also said that the nation’s airports will not lose staff as by ICAO statistics Nigeria was short handed with regards aviation personnel and so many will be redeployed as government has taken responsibility for other state-owned airports.

Sirika who presented an argument on why states will not be allowed to participate in the concession said government was trying to remove the airports from the national government to private entities and will not be handing over to a sub-national government.

He said,”What I can say emphatically, is that no state government will be allowed to participate to get this concession because the argument is, we are taking this concession from federal government to private sector, we cannot give from one government to another government, in fact to a lesser government which is a sub national, this will not happen but any private sector  any private entity with proven record that is able to demonstrate  will be allowed to participate and the best will emerge.

Reacting to Mr.Aliyu Mustapha on whether the Organised Private Sector of Kano can participate in the process, Sirika assured that it was quite possible if the organization had the technical capacity, foundational capacity as well as the experience and expertise as will be proven during the process.

He said,”This process (Concession) is for anyone that has the capacity, the technical capacity, the foundational capacity, the experience, the wherewithal and is interested to participate”.

“So whether you are organized private sector or a private entity you are free to participate so long as you can prove within the process that you can give us value for our money you can participate in the process you will be allowed”.

“It is going to be transparently done, this is the beginning of the process and we are in the planning, so now we are beginning the steps that would lead to the concession and it would be on our website, it would be on the website of ICRC  so they can begin to organize themselves now either as a group or as an entity to participate in the process and you’d be certainly allowed to do so,” he said.

On loss of jobs, he said the workers’ rights and privileges will be protected

Unions fear for jobs but i keep saying they will not lose their jobs because number one: we currently by the findings of ICAO, we are understaffed in so many areas and we need to recruit people  so we need all hands to manage our airports,

“Second: we have now increased the number of airports within our care, we are taking over Gombe, Bauchi,  Dutse, Kebbi, Osubi and many other airports and we need helping hands, we need new people to manage the airport that being the case we look at what is the staff strength and how do we employ more people.”

Patoma Admin by — August 10, 2021 in Aviation 0
Only terminal buildings will be concessioned – Minister

By Favour Nnabugwu

 

 

The Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika said that only the terminal buildings in the four international airports marked for concession will be giving to private individuals to manage.

The four international airports are the Muritala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, the Nnamidi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano and the Port Harcourt International Airport, Port Harcourt.

Speaking during a virtual meeting with stakeholders in Abuja, the Minister said : “All other facilities at the airports and existing concessions outside the Airport Terminals will still be managed by Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN”.

The Minister also said, “the concessionaire will sign service level agreements with FAAN and Nigeria Airspace Management Agency, NAMA, to ensure that airport operates efficiently, the service level agreement will cover the Runway, Taxiway, Security and Air Traffic Management”.

“The concessionaire will provide the investment required to upgrade the existing terminals, take over the new terminals and maintain them over a period of time to be determined based on financial assessment of each transaction”.

Sirika further explained that all existing concession agreements ” within the terminals would be inherited by the concessionaire and would be allowed to run its course before any review.Tariffs will be regulated in accordance with the procedures set in the concession agreement.”

“As regards the passenger Service and Security charges, the concessionaires and FAAN would share of the charges which would be paid directly to FAAN by IATA.”

Enumerating the services FAAN will continue to render, the Minister said FAAN would be required to provide manpower through AVSEC for security of both the Airside and Landside, ” however the concessionaire would be expected to provide and maintain landside equipment but FAAN would continue to provide and maintain Airside security equipment,” Sirika added

Patoma Admin by — August 10, 2021 in Aviation 0
FG will complete all aviation projects before 2023 – Sirika

 

The Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika has said that the Federal Government will not leave any outstanding Aviation projects incomplete before 2023

Sirika stated this in Lagos at the 25th annual conference of the League of Airport and Aviation Correspondents (LAAC) with the theme: ‘Nigeria’s Aviation Industry: Management, Policy and Regulation,’ in his keynote address.

Sirika also revealed that Nigeria has no fewer than 89 Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) arrangements with countries, while 15 others have indicated readiness to sign additional agreements with the country , 13 others are in the threshold of re-negotiation the existing agreements.

The Minister who was represented at the occasion by Engr. Akin Olateru, the Commissioner, Accident Investigation Bureau-Nigeria (AIB-N) , said ” that all hands were on deck to ensure that the government completed all the ongoing projects in the sector.”

He listed the projects as ” the ongoing construction of the new terminal at the international wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), which commenced in 2013″.

” The $600 million; $500 million loan deal secured from China and the $100 million counterpart funding from the Federal Government for the project which had commenced in 2013 with a completion period of 20 months.”

Recall the two chairmen of Aviation Committees in the Senate and House of Representatives had last week raised the alarm over the alleged abandonment of the project, which they said had reached over 90 per cent completion stage.

Responding to the alarm raised, the Minister said ,“We are committed to achieving the completion of outstanding projects we have set out for ourselves before our term runs out.

“We have a vision of a sector that will provide utmost comfort, safety, and security for majority of passengers”.

He further assured that the ministry has a clear roadmap for the development of the sector in Nigeria, stressing that it would ensure its growth to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) through its policies and programmes.

He, however, regretted the negative impact of Covid-19 pandemic on the sector and quoted the statistics from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which put the revenue loss in Nigeria at ” $994 million in 2020, unemployment; 125,370 and loss of contribution to the GDP at $885 million”.

According to him, in a bid to improve the operating environment for investors in the sector, ” government ensured zero import duties on aircraft engine and spare parts, special foreign exchange window for the aviation sector, improved availability of aviation fuel, restructured the aviation agencies, improved safety and security.”

” Others are upgrade of the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria into a regional centre of excellence, introduction of policies on remotely piloted aircraft and employment policies on the enforcement of expatriate quota for the system,” he said.

Patoma Admin by — August 6, 2021 in Aviation 0
NiMet warns of heavy rainfalls; imminent floods, flight disruption around Nigeria

By Favour Nnabugwu

 

The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), has warned of possible heavy rainfall across the country in days to come with chances of flooding of roads, low lying settlements, disruption of traffic due to flood or closed roads, reduction in visibility and possible delay in flight operations among others

In a three day forecast released by the Central Forecast Office (CFO), today,  the agency observed that thunderstorms are expected over parts of Sokoto, Zamfara, Kebbi, Adamawa, Taraba, Bauchi and Kaduna.

Others expecting same are Jigawa, Gombe, Kano and Yobe states. Parts of Niger, FCT and Nasarawa also have prospects of thunderstorm and intermittent rains.

The statement further noted that there are chances of moderate to heavy rainfall in over parts of Benue, Bauchi, Plateau, Southern Borno, Gombe and Southern Yobe, while cloudy conditions and light rains are expected over the rest of the country.

A statement signed by General Manager Public Relations,NiMET,  Muntari Yusuf Ibrahim read,”As a result of the expected heavy rainfall and presence of good amount of soil moisture over most places in the next couple of days, there are chances of flooding of roads, low lying settlements, stream and river channels, disruption of traffic due to flood or closed roads, reduction in visibility, possible delay in flight operations, damage to mud houses and make shift structures, possible damage to roads and bridges.

“The Nigerian Meteorological Agency therefore advised the public to exercise restraint and wait till after the rains to commute. As always NiMet assures of continuous monitoring and update on any changes in the weather pattern.

Patoma Admin by — August 6, 2021 in Aviation 0
Nigeria airlines commend FG on removal of 7% subcharge on imported parts

By admin

 

Nigerian airlines have commended the federal government for its response in removing 7 per cent surcharge on imported aircraft and spares and the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) for the support it has given to the operators.

Chairman and CEO of Air Peace, Allen Onyema made this known today as he corrected misconceptions in the sections of the media following proceedings in the interactive forum at the Senate on July 6, 2021, when he made presentation as Vice Chairman AON on behalf of the airlines on the challenges the operators are facing.

According to him, “An online medium reported the meeting as an issue concerning Air Peace alone and brought ethnic dimension to an issue that concerns all airlines in the country, a report he condemned.

“The meeting was called by the Senate to discuss the reasons for the recent upsurge in flight delays and flight cancellations amongst other issues and challenges facing the aviation industry.

“It was on this occasion that AON made its presentation of challenges facing all the airlines. Our member airlines were present but we made an articulated collective presentation to the Senate, which I read as the Vice President on behalf of the association,” Onyema said.

“It was on this occasion that AON presented the issue of the partial implementation of the Finance Act 2020 which prohibits the payment of duties and VAT on imported aircraft and aircraft spares by the Customs Service.

“Of note, was the presence of a 7 per cent Surcharge on the assessed duties which was not supposed to be. This caused delays in the clearance of aircraft and aircraft spares leading to grounding of aircraft that would have been flying,” he further explained.

He said, “After the Senate meeting, the airlines contacted the Minister of Finance and Minister of Aviation on the aforementioned challenges and both Ministers, “as representatives of a responsible government, swung into action immediately.”

“AON, for the avoidance of doubt, commends the Federal Government for its unflinching support for the growth of indigenous investments in Nigeria. This was very evident in the manner the government got this challenge addressed immediately within 48hours to the joy of the airlines.

“We equally commend the Nigerian Customs Service for also assisting the airlines, including but not limited to Air Peace which was used as an example, in getting their aircraft spares and aircraft released. Our planes have since started flying,” he said.

Onyema said since the 7th day of July, 2021, airlines have been clearing their aircraft spares and aircraft without having to pay any 7 per cent surcharge.

“It is therefore very mischievous for any media outfit to be circulating videos of the presentation of AON complaints made on July 6th two weeks after the said presentation and two weeks after the issues had been resolved as though they are still existing.

The target of the sponsors of this falsehood is the Federal government of President Muhammadu Buhari. I personally frown at the ethnic angle presently circulating in the social media that the ‘fulani’ is destroying Air Peace.

“Those who want the country to go up in turmoil will never stop fanning divisive falsehood. The video was deliberately doctored to show only my face while obscuring the presence of the entire Senate committee members, Minister of Aviation and the leadership of all Aviation agencies in Nigeria.

“The target here is also me. No amount of deliberate intimidation, blackmail and falsehood will deter me from standing up for Peace and unity in my country. This has been my life since my childhood.

“It is very untrue that Air Peace is being dealt with by the ‘fulani’ rather the Federal Government led by President Muhammadu Buhari is very protective of every indigenous investment including those of the airlines,” he added.

He said that contrary to the insinuations that only Air Peace was singled out by Customs to pay those contested surcharges; it was all the airlines that were affected.

“Nobody is ‘dealing’ with Air Peace rather this government is very protective of Air Peace. This is evident in the government refusing to allow one Middle East airline from coming into Nigeria because its Covid-19 protocol was discriminatory and unfavourable to a Nigerian airline. Which airline is that? Air Peace of course.

“Those using the social media to destroy the country and promote hate should think of the consequences of their actions. Azman Air was affected and it is owned by a Fulani. Max Air was affected and it is owned by a Fulani.

“The list goes on. Why are we bent on spooling out falsehood that causes disunity and tremendous disaffection in the country? Why are people bent on promoting hate amongst our diverse peoples? For those promoting hate, the Rwandan story beckons on them,” he added.

The AON Vice Chairman said the present government, in its pursuit for the growth of indigenous airlines helped in getting the Bill removing duties and VAT from imported commercial aircraft and aircraft spares passed while the President wasted no time in giving his assent and signing into law, describing the move as commendable

Patoma Admin by — July 21, 2021 in Aviation 0