The Director, Directorate of Air Transport Regulation (DATR), of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, Olayinka Babaoye-Iriobe says the various aviation reforms introduced by the Nigerian Government are already yielding positive results.
Recall that the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development, had introduced the new aircraft leasing policy as well as the signing and implementation of Irrevocable De-registration and Export Request Authorization (IDERA).
Fielding questions from journalists in Uyo at the weekend during a retreat with the theme, ‘Achieving Operational Excellence in Air Transport Regulation for Safety and Economic Sustainability’, Babaoye-Iriobe explained that the policy removed Nigeria from the Cape Town Convention (CTC) index which was below 49 percentage.
She added that with such low percentage, it was very difficult for airlines to access leasing companies.
Babaoye-Iriobe stated that those policies had not only crashed the cost of leasing aircrafts but also have the potential of ensuring an end to flight cancellations. She also stated that the policies have improved the ease of doing business and restored confidence in the Nigerian aviation subsector.
She said, “What the Honourable Minister, Festus Kayamo has done is to look at the Cape Town Convention to try and revisit it, and then to sign up and implement the IDERA which removed Nigeria from the Cape Town Convention index because our index was below 49%.
“Since he now signed the IDERA and started implementing it, our CTC index skyrocketed. When it was on 49 percentage, it was difficult for our airlines to access the leasing company. So they were leasing aircraft at a very high rate. All those things impact on fares. The policy has made Nigeria more amiable to the leasing companies. At times, when you do certain things, the effect is not felt immediately.”
Babaoye-Iriobe said Nigerian airlines are viable and financially sound, noting that the Directorate of Finance, Directorate of Air Transport, carry out routine visits to airlines for economic and financial audit and help to rectify areas of weakness to ensure safety.
She also revealed that the process of acquiring airline licences and renewal has become easy and accessible as long as the airline operator meets all the requirements.
“Another thing that we have done which the director general initiated is for the Directorate of Air Transport Regulation to have an electronic portal. Electronic portal is where you can submit, you can apply for any economic authorization online.
“Once you gather all your requirements together, you don’t have to come to the office, you can go online, apply for the licenses. Even when it comes to payment of the required processing fees, you just follow steps on how to do that.
“The only time for now that you will need to come to the office is if you want to get receipt for your proof of payment, because you still need a NCAA receipt. And once you get that, you can upload on the system, we review everything, we write to you,” she explained.
