Stakeholders in the aviation sector have unanimously identified effective synergy among airline operators as key to sustaining safety in the nation’s air transport industry.
The sector which analysts have tipped for an imminent growth of more service providers such as airlines, AMO, ATO, airports, ANSP, aviation personnel, passengers and aircraft movements in the near future, have been clouded with safety challenges rising from the ever increasing volume of air traffic.
These challenges, stakeholders say must be addressed proactively to ensure that the looming capacity expansion is carefully managed and supported through strategic regulatory and infrastructural developments.
“One of the ways of sustaining safety in Nigeria aviation sector is when airlines embrace the power of synergy. When airlines operating two or three aircraft merged to form one, the level of safety that will be achieved and will be more than what one airline is striving to achieve,” Benedict Adeyileka, acting director general, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), said at the 2nd annual Aviation Safety seminar recently held in Lagos.
Adeyileka, who spoke on the theme: “Sustaining Safety in the Nigerian Aviation Sector: The attendant Challenges”, stressed that while the challenges facing Nigeria’s aviation sector range from Inadequate infrastructural facilities to inadequate training personnel, a sure way of summoning these road blocks is by codesharing and interlining.
Corroborating Adeyileka’s claim, Babatunde Obadofin, chief executive officer of Aero Consult Limited, noted that aviation is a team effort and its fortunes and ability to play this vital role are dependent on strong partnership across the value chain and with government, adding that in an incredibly tough trading environment, airlines must focus hard on pulling themselves through the immediate crisis.
According to Adeyileka, an effective and autonomous civil aviation authority is also essential to compliment the synergy among operators, adding that sustaining the tempo for achieving the US FAA Category One will help improve the level of effective implementation of ICAO Eight Critical Elements in all areas.
To him, a full implementation of the State Safety Programme (SSP) by Nigeria and Safety Management System by all Nigerian aviation service providers is the best way to improve safety, amend culture and improve safety of the aviation industry.
Odinaka Mbonu
