- Photo caption : The management team of United Nigeria Airlines led by the Chief Operating Officer,(COO), Osite Okonkwo briefing the League of Airport and Aviation Correspondents(LAAC) at the Association’s Press Centre , Murtala Muhammed Airport(MMA),Lagos, yesterday.
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As the United Nigeria Airlines celebrates its 3rd anniversary, the airline said that it has continued to remain in business despite the daunting challenges the airline encountered in the course of its operation in the last three years .
This is just as the airline disclosed that it has carried 950,000 passengers since it commenced flight operations three years ago and that it hopes to hit the one million mark in a few months time.
The Chief Operating Officer(COO), UNA, Mr. Osita Okonkwo said this while speaking with Aviation Correspondents at the League of Airport and Aviation Correspondents(LAAC) Press Centre at the Murtala Muhammed Airport(MMA), Lagos.
Okonkwo , lamented that one of the challenges the airline like other airline operators faced is the skyrocketing increase in the prices of aviation fuel also known as jet-A1, which according to him rose from N320 three years ago to N1,300 per litre while Forex rates on the other hand also increased from N300 to $1 to N1,700 to $1 presently.
He also lamented that all the aircraft spares are purchased in Dollars and that the inability to access Dollars to buy spare parts is also a major challenge in the operations of any airline, appealing to the Federal Government to intervene.
The COO hinted that the issue of non-existence and inadequate infrastructure at Nigerian airports is a major drawback for airlines and that it still persists
The Instrument Landing System (ILS), Runway Light and Airfield Lighting (AFL) are basically non-existence at airports.
He, however, stated that the Murtala Muhammed Airport Two(MMA2) is technologically advanced and its operations better compared to others , but that the terminal’s challenge is space constraint, which according to him brings about chaos at peak periods.
According to him, “When we commenced operation in 2020, Jet fuel prices were about N320 but as at today it is N1,300. Forex was about N300 then but at today, it is N1, 7000 to $1. These are ingredients for disaster.
He projected that the prices of aviation fuel may rise again beginning from February 20, 2024, putting the expected increase at N1,480 litre in Lagos, N1,522 in Abuja and N1,530 in Kano respectively.
“The availability and the cost of Forex, for us to get critical spare parts, we have to pay a lot of money to be able to access Forex. Then you talk of the infrastructure inadequacies. In all our airports, there is no one that is excluded. MMA2 has some advantages, they have Technology, they have vehicles but still the space itself is so restrictive that when there are so many flights leaving at the same time, it is so chaotic and requires further work in terms of expansion.”
He added that despite multifaceted challenges bedeviling airline business, UNA has continued to operate daily scheduled flights since February 12 for three years
On employment, Okonkwo disclosed that the airline has employed 500 till date for all the departments in the company and that 80 per cent of those employed have never taken up employment elsewhere.
In his words, “United Nigeria Airlines provided them their first job and they never had previous working experience.”
Speaking on the airline’s recruitment policy, the COO revealed that it is the policy of the airline to recruit fresh hands and train them in accordance with the culture of the carrier, adding that UNA does not believe in poaching from other airlines.
He pointed out that within the airline’s three years of existence, it has secured the International Air Transport Association Operational Safety Audit (IOSA), adding presently UNA is a full fledged member of IATA.
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