Some years ago industry analysts used to excoriate Nigerian
airlines at every aviation fora because of their poor choice of aircraft for
the routes they operate. Many of the industry experts said for airlines that
operate short haul flights of largely less than two hours, it is most
inappropriate to operate long haul airplanes.
New entrants into commercial aviation seemed to have taken a
cue from the criticisms and have started acquiring smaller body aircraft
suitable and economical for short haul flights.
Over 10 years ago Arik Air came in with Boeing 737-700 and
800, but while operating it, it realised that there was need to have smaller
body equipment and it acquired Bombardier CRJ 900 and later turboprops,
Bombardier Q400.
Air Peace, which joined the market in 2014, acquired Boeing
aircraft and shortly after acquired smaller body aircraft, ERJ 145, a 50
passenger capacity aircraft. United Nigeria Airlines, which started operation
in February, 2021came in with ERJ 145 and Green Africa, which is under the
process of obtaining Air Operator Certificate (AOC) finally chose ATR turboprop
aircraft.
The Managing Director of the Nigerian Airspace Management
Agency (NAMA), Captain Fola Akinkuotu, told THISDAY in a telephone interview
that choosing the right aircraft has so many benefits, saying Nigerian airlines
in recent time seems to have realised that because they are now choosing small
body aircraft which is right for the short haul flights.
He said such aircraft types would help airlines breakeven
with less number of passengers. For example, Embraer ERJ 145 is a 50 passenger
capacity aircraft. With 35 passengers the airline can break-even a flight, but
with a bigger aircraft like Boeing 737-800, which has the capacity of about 145
passengers, the airline needs about 90 passengers to break even.
Akinkuotu said bigger aircraft would make it difficult for
an airline to breakeven with in a route where passengers cannot fill more than
half of the aircraft. He noted that such airplanes are good but their choice
should be dependent on the market.
"For example, if I have an airline that is not yet
known, I can use smaller airplane to operate Lagos-Abuja route with a capacity
of about 50 passengers; but as I get popular I will use bigger aircraft. With
smaller aircraft you can ginger the market," he said.
Wear and Tear
The NAMA Boss said the choice of aircraft is determined by
design and market. For a long flight a bigger aircraft is needed, but aircraft
utilisation is dependent on cycle and hours of flight. He said that if an
airline uses Boeing 737-800 for example, to fly Abuja-Lagos and use the same aircraft
to fly Lagos-Dakar, the Abuja-Lagos aircraft would record higher cycle because
it would land six times in the same hours of flight, the one on Lagos-Dakar
would spend before it lands.
In other words, if you operate Boeing 737-800 between
Lagos-Abuja it will operate about 55 minutes in each flight so under one hour
it would land two times and in the three hours it would take the one going to
Dakar to get to its destination, the one on the Lagos-Abuja route would have
landed six times, which is six cycles; while the other would have landed two
times, which is two cycles.
He said the more the cycle, the higher the maintenance. But
if appropriate aircraft is used it would be cost effective. Boeing 737-800
would be appropriately used from four to six hours' flight. So there should be
a balance.
Akinkuotu noted that there should be other factors to
consider in choosing the aircraft type.
"You have to also look at the public perception. In
Nigeria, travellers like aircraft that takes them above the clouds. Smaller
aircraft are not as tolerant to weather as the big ones, but they may be good
to the economy of the airlines," he said.
Beckoning Airports
The Managing Director of Flight Logistics Solutions, Amos
Akpan, said in the past most of the aircraft types used by Nigerian carriers
were those that have capacity for 120-140 seats, noting that the cost of
operating these aircraft types is high in terms of fuel, manpower, spare parts
and these aircraft types include Boeing 737, 727, MD11 and DC9.
"These aircraft are expensive for domestic operation in
Nigeria. The number of passengers required to break even is high. The volume of
fuel used for one hour's flight is high. Now, people have to reassess their
business model and decide to choose aircraft that burn less fuel and the
break-even load factor is lower.
"So where there used to be 80-90 passengers to break
even, they would need 35-40 passengers to break-even because of the aircraft
type and passenger traffic," Akpan explained.
He also noted that smaller body aircraft could easily fly
into airports that have smaller runway and the airports where passengers that
are ready to travel by air at anytime could be average of 35-40.
"Such airports where you can have relatively smaller
number of passengers are Ilorin, Katsina, Akure, Ibadan, Minna, Osubi, Calabar,
the new airport in Yenagoa, Bayelsa state capital, Kebbi, Bauchi and Gombe.
There are some cities where you cannot have a high number of passengers at any
point in time, so you deploy smaller body aircraft there. So there are lower
number of passengers that can pay for air service there.
"By the time you land there with that number of
passengers, you break even. There are a whole lot of airports that are waiting
to be served with smaller body aircraft. These airports are waiting to be
exploited. They have a number of passengers with average of about 30 passengers
per flight. So they need smaller aircraft, what we call feeder service
plane," Akpan said.
Size Critical as Brand New
Last week when Air Peace received third of 13 aircraft it
made firm order for from Embraer, the Director General of the Nigerian Civil
Aviation Authority (NCAA), Captain Musa Nuhu, in eulogizing the airline noted
that an airline buying the right size of aircraft for its operations is very
critical to the success of that airline.
"Today is another milestone and it is a paradigm shift
in the aviation industry in Nigeria. Not since the days of Nigeria Airways when
I was quite a young man when I started my career have I seen any Nigerian
airline purchase brand new aircraft. It is not only ordering a brand new
aircraft but the right size aircraft for the Nigerian market.
"That right size is as critical as being brand new
because it further enhances the airline economics, you break even with much
lower passengers, the operating cost are lower, your maintenance cost are
lower, it is much easier.
"You can fly routes and still come out profitable, even
when you don't have too many passengers. In addition to that, another factor we
don't realise, this new aircraft are environment friendly, less noise, less
pollution. I am really proud to be the DG of NCAA when this change is
coming," Nuhu said.
The Director General also said with the initiative of Air
Peace he hoped that other airlines would follow the same way and buy brand new
aircraft types that suit the Nigerian market.
"I see a paradigm for other airlines, like the chairman
of Air Peace prayed, I also pray that other airlines also will buy brand new
aircraft and the right size. So that the air transportation industry can grow
much better than it is currently.
"If it grows much better, there will be more jobs; more
income and the contribution of the industry to the GDP will grow. Once our
contribution to the GDP grows bigger, the government recognises the industry
more, with more attention. We are getting good attention now, but the attention
will grow and we will become a more relevant sector by increasing our GDP in
the industry. We are here to work together and grow the industry," the
Director General said.
He described the relationship between airlines and NCAA as
partnership, noting that the agency would always support Nigerian carriers in
exploiting domestic, regional and international markets.
"We are friends and partners in progress in the
industry. If you have issues, we will sit down and discuss and resolve it. Yes,
Senator Hadi Sirika, the Minister of Aviation spurred airlines to make such
bold move to acquire new aircraft. Most importantly, we need entrepreneurs like
Onyema that believes in the country to come and invest, tie all loose ends
together and grow the sector.
"I look forward to the day that majority of the Air
Peace planes are brand new E195-E2s. Not only will it grow your market
domestically, it will grow your market at the regional level. In West and
Central Africa, we have 600 million people; you can imagine with the right size
aircraft, you can easily airlift 150 million passengers. And I promised we
would continue to work together, if you need all the assistance we will
cooperate to ensure the industry survives," Captain Nuhu said.
Cost Cutting
Also during the ceremony, the Chairman and CEO of the airline,
Allen Onyema, explained that he was encouraged by the Minister's compelling
speech, which urged Nigerian airlines to acquire new aircraft. But at the point
the speech was made, many of the domestic carriers were not positively disposed
to the speech but with a hind sight, that speech inspired the decision of Air
Peace to go for new aircraft and also the right aircraft for its operations.
"The Minster didn't want Nigeria to be a dumping ground
for old planes, not that the old planes are not safe. But at the same time, if
you know the amount of money we spend on these planes you will not believe it.
"It is very, very demanding, whatever you make you take
it to the MROs (maintenance facility) abroad. So any sensible Minister will be
worried. But at that time, we didn't really understand it but later we started
understanding what he was saying. And he started getting us to understand him,
trying to explain to us. "Secondly, this government provided enabling
environment for us to thrive. The day we went to the Senate, the Minister was
fully behind me when I was making presentation as the Vice President of Airline
Operators of Nigeria (AON). The Minister drove me in his car; we went to the
Senate to plead with them to pass certain things into law.
"Today we have Customs duties waived, today we have VAT
removed from importation of aircraft, if not I will be paying over N1 billion
from this aircraft that is arriving today. Today, it is part of our laws even
when President Muhammadu Buhari leaves tomorrow, customs duties, VAT, will
never depend any longer on the whims and caprices of whoever becomes President because
now it is part of our laws. So government has created the environment for the
industry to thrive, it has never happened in the last 15 years," Onyema
said.