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Dana Offers Seats for N9,000

Dana Airlines Limited has launched a new promo in which passengers can pay as low as N9,000 for a one way ticket to any of it's routes. The airline currently operates daily flights to Enugu, Lagos and Abuja, and is set to extend its operations to Kano within the week.

Mr. Jacky Hathiramani, Chief Executive Officer of the airline, said: "From August 9 to September 9, passengers will enjoy our reduced fare of N9,000 only if they book and pay for their tickets online, at least 24hrs before the expected date of departure.

Seats will also be open until December 9, 2009 for every complete booking made within the period of the promo".

Mr. Hathiramani said the promo is to further demonstrate Dana Air's commitment to its passengers and to encourage more Nigerians to fly 'The smartest Way' on Dana Air. "With our reduced fare of N9,000 and our online booking and payment system, more people will be able to fly with ease and experience the Dana Air hospitality", he noted.

Meanwhile, Dana Airlines Limited is set to take delivery of another Boeing MD83 aircraft bringing to four the total number of aircrafts in its fleet. In an earlier press statement, Mr. Hathiramani had said, "With the addition of another Boeing MD83 aircraft to our fleet, we will be able to further increase our flight frequency on all our routes, to meet the growing demand of our customers".

Only recently, Dana Air introduced a sixth flight from Lagos to Abuja and added a second flight on the Enugu-Lagos route. In addition to beginning direct Lagos-Kano flights in a few days, the airline is also looking at extending its operations to Port- Harcourt city by September this year. A subsidiary of Dana Group of Companies, Dana Airlines is Nigeria's first new world carrier, offering premium services at an affordable rate.

Safety Issues at MMIA

The pursuit of Category One status for civil aviation has reached an advanced stage. There is optimism in the horizon that the all-important safety audit will be passed in the last quarter of the year. The efforts put in place by relevant aviation agencies, including the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and others, are likely to yield the desired result as Nigeria inches closer to joining the league of global aviation nations in first class categorization.

It is needless to state that Nigeria has organized a series of training for officials of the regulatory agencies in all areas critical to the attainment of the United States Federal Aviation Administration rating as well as higher regulatory oversight for the sensitive industry. With the determination of the agencies and their officials to close the gaps in the areas fingered in the last follow-up visit, it is clear that the bar is being raised for safety on the ground and in the air.

What may turn out as a spoil sport is the unauthorized activities of tanker drivers who carry out all sorts of unsafe operations around the Haji Camp axis of the sprawling complex housing the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, What could be scarier as having truck loads of aviation fuel, which is highly inflammable, exposed near the terminal of one of the busiest airports in the West African subregion.

Attempts to get the tanker drivers and their pay masters to tidy up their operations around the airport, it was learnt, are not yielding result, as they continue to carry out their operations without let. If this ugly trend is allowed to go on unchallenged, chances are that, disaster may be looming around the airport, the proportion of which is unimaginable.

A few weeks ago, the Airport Command of the Nigeria Police spoke of plans to relocate the tanker drivers, even as surveillance teams lurk around the precincts to monitor the activities of people who may pose a threat around the airport. Do we need to wait for disaster to occur before the concerned authorities get proactive? There are gaps that should certainly be filled by those whose brief it is to ensure there is no threat to safety and security around the airport.

IRS Airlines is Paying

The Chairman of IRS Airlines, Alhaji Ishaku Rabiu, has said one of its directors, Khalifa Isyaku Rabiu, who took a non-performing loan from one of the five troubled banks, is a non executive director in the carrier. Ishaku said the non-executive director is not involved in the day-to-day running of the airline, but only serves on the board of the company.

He said the loan the airline secured for the purchase of aircraft originated from Universal Trust Bank (UTB), before it was transferred to Union Bank. The history, according to him, is very clear to the managers of the bank. A statement issued by Rahiu said: "Khalifa Isyaku, though a director of the company, is a non executive director, who has banked with First Bank Plc for over 60 years with an impeccable credit record and there is mutual respect and appreciation on both sides. "He is not involved in the day-to-day management of IRS Airline.

He is on the board because the chairman of IRS requested that he do so, as a mark of respect for him". "The history of the account makes it a unique and special case as it was inherited from Universal Trust Bank by Union Bank and the bank is still working at understanding the history of the account". "At inception, the facility was for N1.05 billion for the purchase of aircraft and fully collaterised.

As at today, we have paid about N2 billion in principal and interest and payments are still being made while reconciliation on disputed issues of penalty interest and charges amounting to over N2.5 billion are going on in tandem". "We wish to make it abundantly clear that the balance on the account as at date is not N3.3 billion and that we have been making payments to Union Bank while issues relating to the account are being resolved by Union Bank internally".

Operators Oppose Multiple Rates at MMA Auto Gate

Against all protestation, the automation of the Murtala Mohammed Airport (MMA) Lagos access gate is expected to come on stream this week. Users of the access gate are uncomfortable with the arrangement by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the concessionaire - Integrated Intelligent Imaging (I-CUBE) West Africa - that compels them to pay dual rates to the authority.

An industry source queried an arrangement in which the limousine operators operating within the airport complex would pay N25,000 to the concessionaire, while at the same time, they are required to pay another N15,000 to the agency for accessing the facility. But a director in I-CUBE Mr. Yomi Oyewole, insisted that the concession was going on as planned, explaining that motorists and stakeholders were cooperating with the company.

An industry source informed our correspondent, that before the concession exercise, FAAN realizes between N35 million to N37 million monthly, apart from the N40,000 annual dues form the limousine operators. They said FAAN wrote to the limousine operators to remit N25,000 to the account of I-CUBE, and at the same time ordered it to pay the balance of the N15,000 to its purse.

The source emphasized that if it was agreed that the limousine operators are to pay part of its annual dues to the concessionaire, the concession agreement reached between FAAN and I-CUBE ought to be slightly higher. The source said: "Some of us still query the N40 million monthly payment by the concessionaire. You see, before I-CUBE came into the scene, our staff were remitting between N35 million and N37 million monthly to the purse of FAAN and this is apart from the N40,000 received from the limousine operators annually.

So, we expect that since FAAN is concessioning that access gate out and still wants the limousine operators to pay substantial sum to the concessionaire, the concession agreement ought to be modified, because we have over 200 limousine cabs operating in this complex". Oyewole however explained that FAAN has written to all the stakeholders in the industry, such as the airlines, concessionaire, agencies and other operators within the complex since the first week of August intimating them of the automation of the access gate.

He said despite the brouhaha that greeted the concession, most operators have complied with the FAAN directive, adding that the first batch of full automation would commence in mid September. He, however emphasized that users of the access gate should not expect full automation until the programming of the lags will be programmed through its technical partners, IRD in Canada and ARC management solution in South Africa.

By Jeff Oguike.

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