Aviation and travel news

The federal government has debunked the claim by the Ethiopian Airlines’ Chief Executive, Tewolde Gebremariam, that the airline is favoured to establish and manage the new ‘Nigeria Air.’ The Deputy Director, Media and Public Affairs, Mr. James Odaudu representing the minister of state for aviation debunked the claim when he responded to NAN enquiries. According to the minister even if Ethiopian Airlines had tendered an offer to be partner, it is preposterous and misleading for Ethiopian Airlines boss to make such a statement. He added that discussions are ongoing with prospective partners and investors ranging from development finance institutions, airlines and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). The ongoing discussions are not limited establishment of a national carrier but to other component of the Aviation industry development roadmap for which investors are sought. The building of an MRO center, cargo terminal etc are also part of the plan.

Eleven of the survivors of the Aeromexico plane crash led by one Nestor Martinez have taken the airline to court suing for negligence on the part of the airline. Last Tuesday night,  Aeromexico Flight 2431  attempted to take off from Durango, Mexico  during bad weather and strong winds. The Embraer E-190 regional jet attempted to abort the takeoff, but went down just after the runway.  Somehow, all  103 people on board  the flight survived, despite the impact and the fact the plane burst into flames almost immediately after it hit the ground. Authorities said 85 people were injured, and 49 hospitalized — most with minor injuries. Martinez’s lawsuit accuses Aeromexico of attempting “a takeoff maneuver in unsafe wind conditions,” failing to “adequately monitor wind conditions prior to takeoff” and failing to “obtain proper pitch, yaw and altitude during takeoff,” among other accusations. Passengers on board the plane said they were questioning why the flight was even proceedi

In what may be seen as a recovery from trying times, Med-View Airlines Plc has acquired a Boeing 777-200ER aircraft to revive its international operations. The wide-body aircraft is the second of such in Nigeria following the same type of aircraft acquired a few months ago by Air Peace. The arrival of the aircraft with registration number: 5N-BVY, was celebrated by staff and friends of the airline at Murtala Mohammed international airport a few weeks back. According to the management of the management of Medview the aircraft is wholly owned by Med-View Airline and has a capacity of 323 passengers, with 28 in Business Class. he jumbo jet has been deployed to Hajj operations when the airline begun airlift of pilgrims to Mecca and Medina this week. The airline is expected to airlift about 10,000 Nigerian Pilgrims during this year’s Hajj. The aircraft will after the hajj operations be used to service the lagos london routes. The airline is also awaiting the arrival of more of it

Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State says full commercial activities will commence at the Asaba International Airport in July. The governor gave the assurance on Thursday during an inspection visit to the airport. He commended the contractor, “Setraco” for the reconstruction work on the runway. “It took two years for ULO (the former contractor) to construct 900 metres of the runway, but it gladdens my heart that in just three weeks, Setraco has done 1.1 km of the runway. “From the work programme, it may be possible for Setraco to complete the project in three and half months. “The speed with which they mobilise to site is wonderful,’’ he said, expressing optimism that in another four months, bigger planes would land at the airport. Jihad Yahgi, an Engineer and the Area Manager, Setraco, who explained the level of work done so far, said that the company would soon complete the water channels at the airport. He promised that the work would be completed on schedule and in line with speci

Ministry of Aviation has directed Starbow, a Ghanaian Domestic Airline, to employ qualified personnel and review all of its operational procedures to avoid further incidents in the future. This directive comes as a result of the findings by a specialized investigative report brought in by a five member committee that was setup by the ministry in December to ascertain what led to the Starbow excursion on the runway in November 2017. Starbow was further told to retrain all its crew on cockpit resource management and aborted take-off procedures. The Minister, Madam Cecilia Dapaah, disclosed the details of the investigative report to Parliament in answer to an urgent question raised by the Member of Parliament, Hon. Kwame Agbodzah on the circumstances leading to the airline’s incident in November 2017. The findings of the report hinted at two major causes of the incident. Firstly that, there was the loss of situational awareness on the part of the cockpit crew and secondly, the

Air peace will today receive the first of the four Boeing 777 (ER) it has acquired to commence its international operations. This will be the first widebody aircraft in the fleet of the airline. According to the CEO three more widebody aircrafts will soon arrive. The airline is planning  long haul flights to Guangzhou, Dubai, Mumbai, Johannesburg, London etc in the nearest future.

The dana plane with registration number 5N-SRI was said to have suffered a runway escursion at the point of touch down in omagwa airport port Harcourt and ended up in the bush. The passengers are said to have been evacuated with minor injuries with no life lost. he incident occurred on the night of Tuesday, February 20, 2018. Story developing. NEWS REPORTS OPINION #NIGERIADECIDES POLITICS BUSINESS SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT LIFESTYLE EDUCATION VIDEOS PHOTOS DOCUMENTS A Dana aircraft with registration number 5N-SRI performing a flight from Lagos to Port Harcourt has overshot the runway and ended up in the bush in the Niger Delta region 

Nigerian domestic carrier, Dana Air, and the Lome-based African airline, Asky, have signed an interline agreement to deepen their presence in the regional air travel market. Dana said part of the agreement includes    aircraft partnership deal with Asky    to add some new generation aircraft to its fleet. Speaking during a brief signing ceremony at Dana Air’s Corporate Head office in Lagos, the Group Managing Director of Dana Air, Jacky Hathir amani, said: “We  have taken a bold step towards achieving our strategic route and fleet expansion program. With this partnership, we shall be adding some brand new aircraft to our fleet soon. “We have a lso had advanced talks with some other notable aircraft manufacturers and very  soon, some of aircraft outside the country on maintenance will also be arriving in the country. This is part of ou r desire to provide options for our guests (passengers) who have also been requesting us to consider some under-served cities in Nigeria . We w

Sen. Hadi Sirika, the Minister of State for Aviation has identified misplaced priorities among nation’s airlines as one of the major challenges confronting their growth. Speaking recently with journalists at the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos, Sirika said that most of the local carriers want to go into schedule operations when there are arrays of openings in the airline sub-sector. For instance, he said Aero Contractors Airline, which commenced as an oil and gas operator suddenly delved into schedule operations without changing its business model and priorities, stressing that same challenge confront other local carriers. He insisted that without a change of business model and priority, Nigerian airlines would continue to run into murky waters and challenged the operators to re-organise, re-engineer and be futuristic in their business model. He said: “Let’s take the example of Aero Contractors; the airline has been in existence for 57 years. I was born to stan

The Managing Director of Air Peace, Mr Allen Onyema, on Thursday said Nigerian airlines were opposed to implementation of the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) because of the absence of a level playing field. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Onyema made the assertion while speaking with newsmen in Lagos. He said that currently, the treaty does not favour Nigeria because other countries use high charges to discourage Nigerian airlines from operating to their cities.Onyema said when airlines from such countries come to Nigeria, they pay relatively less charges than what they levy Nigerian carriers.The airline chief said what Nigerian airlines were demanding was observation of the principle of reciprocity by the Federal Government. “When we say that this Single African Air Transport Market does not favour us, it is not because we cannot compete. “It means that it does not favour us at this stage, except a level playing field is created. “This is not on

Robbers operating within the perimeter fence of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos on Tuesday evening attempted to burglarize a Ghana-bound ERJ jet, the latest attack upon an aircraft preparing for takeoff.  The incident occurred a few hours before a Delta Airlines aircraft which departed for Atlanta returned to Lagos after one of its engines caught fire. SaharaReporters learned that the burglars opened a cargo door of the ERJ aircraft, tore up the cargo hold bag holders and tried to steal passenger bags but the experienced pilot, recognizing what was happening, unleashed hot gas on the thieves, scaring them away. The incident, however, forced the aircraft to spend two additional hours on the ground after the police anti-bomb units were called in to check the aircraft for safety. Each passenger on board also had to undertake a luggage identification before the flight finally departed. In the past few weeks, there have been similar attacks on some aircraft at

A united airlines planes, a boeing 777 flying from san Francisco to Hawaii was forced to make an emergency landing after one of it's engines' cover was blown open mid air causing panic among the passengers. The aircraft was said to be over flying the pacific ocean when the incident occurred. Photos and videos taken by some of the passengers through the windows showed an exposed engine shaking mid-air after the engine cover broke away.

No fewer than five passengers aboard a Delta Airline flight from Lagos to Atlanta have reportedly sustained minor injuries after the aircraft made an emergency landing after one of the engines caught fire shortly after take off. The passenger were promptly evacuated using the emergency slides and no life was lost. The Airbus A330-200 was said to have developed a yet to be ascertained issue with one of its two engines thus resulting to a fire.  Flight landed safely and passengers were evacuated on the runway. Delta's airlines said in a statement that it's working with "authorities to assess the situation."

The regulatory authority said that it reviewed all the reports from the relevant agencies concerning the incident and it was unproven, insisting that the airline lied about the theft attempt claim. A statement by the General Manager, Public Affairs, NCAA, Mr. Sam Adurogboye said that in line with Standard and Recommended Practices (SARPs), Aviation Security personnel were at the holding point of runway 18R monitoring the departure/take off of both Air Peace and Arik Air aircraft. Air Peace jet Nigeria Technology Hub He hinted that the Pilot-In-Command (PIC) alarm triggered an immediate response and the escort team overtook the Arik aircraft for a more proximate field look and access to the Air Peace aircraft. It would be recalled that a report on Friday had said that the PIC of Air Peace flight no. APK 7138 with aircraft no. 5N-BUJ had alerted the Lagos Control Tower that the aircraft’s AFT cargo compartment was opened. According to the pilot in his report to the tower, he not

Nigerian airline operators have reacted angrily to the position of Minister of Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, on their N516 billion indebtedness to firms and agencies in the aviation sector. The Chairman of Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), Capt. Nogie Meggisson, who briefed newsmen in Lagos on Sunday, faulted the minister’s claims, describing it as unverified. Sirika had reportedly said that Nigerian airlines were ridden with debts, weak and unable to compete and take advantage of the newly inaugurated Single Africa Air Transport Market (SAATM). But Meggison, however, said that the minister was reeling out figures offhand, stressing that he could not prove any of the debts he mentioned. The AON chairman said Nigerian aviation agencies lacked the ability to transparently record their revenues and document accurately the debts owed them by the airlines. Meggisson said, “We have always asked them to list the debts. It is easy to call numbers. Let those we owe bring their bills and explain

Dozens of employees at an Indonesian airport have been grabbing likes on social media after a viral video showed them pushing a 35,000kg aircraft along a runway. Although a car being pushed by people is a frequently-spotted incident, seeing Garuda Indonesia aircraft being pushed was a new spectacle indeed. Around 20 men were seen slowly pushing the plane weighing 35,000 kilograms backwards in the direction of the terminal at Tambolaka Airport in the province of East Nusa Tenggara on Thursday. As the video got widely circulated online, social media users speculated that the plane had broken down and passengers were forced to help. But the airport’s public relations manager, quoted by local sources, said that technicians and employees at the airport pushed the plane “after it slightly missed the turn.” “After the plane landed, it should have turned left toward the apron [parking area]. The plane missed [the turn] slightly,” manager Ikhsan Rosan said according to Detik

LIST OF DEFUNCT AIRLINES IN NIGERIA AIRLINES FROM TO NIG AIRWAYS 1971 2003 GAS AIRLINES 1973 2000 INTERCONTINENTAL   1978 1990 OKADA 1982 2002 ADC AIRLINES 1984 2006 HOLD TRADE 1991 2000 BELLVIEW 1992 2010 HARCO AIR 1992 1998 TRIAX 1992 2000 EAS AIR LINES 1993 2006 SOSOLISO 1994 2006 CHANCHANGI 1994 2012 PREMIUM AIR 1995 2006 ASSOCIATED 1996 2007 AFRIJET 1998 2009

737 MAX 10 has reached a major milestone as the MAX program completed firm configuration on the airplane. This means engineers now have all the design requirements in place for what will be the largest member of Boeing's single-aisle family. Boeing announced the achievement today at the Singapore Airshow. "The steps we've taken to reach this point ensure the MAX 10 will be the most efficient and profitable single-aisle airplane the market has ever seen," said Randy Tinseth , vice president of Marketing, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "We're working closely with our airline customers to deliver on the performance and efficiency benefits we've promised." The 737 MAX 10, which will use a stretched fuselage that is 66 inches longer than the 737 MAX 9, now moves into the detailed design phase prior to the start of production. The airplane will carry up to 230 passengers, delivering 5 percent lower trip costs and 5 percent lower seat-mil

The minister of state for Aviation has defended Nigeria's membership of the Single African Air Transport Market, even as some players in the industry had kicked against the move as they believed it will lead to capital flight especially as Nigeria does not have any good Airline currently. According to the minister, the government has set in motion to create a robust carrier that would take advantage of this SAATM for the benefit of the Nigerian people.  Nigeria is among the first 11 countries that went to  Yamousoukro  and took a decision to liberalise the sector and open the sky for Africa In his opinion, the new carrier will help Nigeria to benefit fully from the implementation of the provisions of the SAATM. This he believes will mean more development in the sector, more jobs, more security and more connectivity.  He blamed the managers of the few private carriers in the country for not being able to build the required capacity to tap into the benefits of the open sky

The Minister of State for Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, on Thursday gave the assurance that Nigeria was close to getting a new national carrier that would be private-sector driven. According to him, the national carrier would be delivered within the first term of President Muhammadu Buhari. In his words “ I think in the next couple of months, one month to two months maximum, by March we should be able to have our outline business base for this transaction. “I will say that we are very close to having the national carrier established. Certainly it would be within the first term of this administration.’’

Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday approved AMG (Airline Management Group) to work on establishment of a new national carrier. Minister of State, Aviation, Hadi Sirika, stated this when he briefed State House correspondents at the end of the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting in Abuja. Government had in May 2017 appointed Messers Lufthansa consortium and five other advisers to help it set up a national airline and develop its aviation infrastructure. “Today Council considered a memo from transportation regarding aviation”, Sirika said. “It was a memo that was brought to substitute a member of the consortium that will provide transaction advisory services for the establishment of a National career. “And that member of the consortium is Messers Lufthansa consulting. “Council considered and approved that substitution with another company called AMG (Airline Management Group) with Avia Solutions GE to join the other members of the consortium to continue prov