In a recent interview, the Asky CEO said that Nigerian needs
efficient and well-functioning airlines that would cater for domestic and
international markets and appealed to
Nigeria’s national assembly to introduce laws that will enable Nigerian
carriers to thrive.
“Nigeria aviation is a very big aviation market by the
share, by the mobility, the people are very high travellers. In Nigeria it is
good to have a well-functioning domestic and international Nigerian companies.
But the aviation ecosystem in Nigeria, the way I look at it, it is a little bit
formidable and difficult for the Nigerian authorities. So my advice and my
appeal for the Nigerian lawmakers is that they need to enable the operators in
Nigeria to be able to thrive because the market is so big for the international
and domestic operators.
“There is no shortage of market but the government should
enable the Nigerian operators by way of good regulation that would create the
enabling environment, by way of making them to thrive. Making the law, so that
they can help them develop the aviation infrastructure, making the law to be
very conducive for the local operators, so that they can grow up to the task
and cover the region and the continent. So this is my appeal. Otherwise, there
are a lot of people who are really interested to make aviation to work in
Nigeria. And also the market is so in demand and saturated and there are a lot
of operators in the sector. So my appeal to the Nigerian government is to
enable them and push them to grow. That is my simple advice. Of course the
whole aviation ecosystem needs to be built to be an enabling environment for
aviation,” he said.
Hailu said Asky Airlines, which is a private multinational
passenger airline, was established in 2010, 13 years ago and has done so well
and has become a profitable carrier in West Africa.
According to Hailu, Asky is not only profitable in terms of
economics, but it is also profitable in terms of fulfilling its vision and
mission of connecting West, Central, South, East Africa with each other and
connecting people and goods and cultures. So, it is profitable in all
dimensions.
The CEO said Asky is fulfilling its mission as pan-Africa
airline and has effectively operated to fulfil its set out goals.
“First of all, the commercial tagline for Asky is the
pan-African airline. By saying this, we are not just invoking slogans, we mean
what we say in Asky. Asky is a real Pan-Africa, number one. By connecting
people from Cape Verde, from the westermost to Kenya, Nairobi the eastermost to
Niamey, Niger, the northermost and Johannesburg, South Africa, the southermost.
And just about anywhere else in between 28 destinations. This means west,
central, south, east Africa, building one of the largest networks connecting
Africa. That means serving the Pan-African initiative, the Africa Continental
Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), and before it is even being fulfilled, the
Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM). So this is one of the Pan-African
attributes of Asky, by the sheer network architecture. It shows pan-Africanism.
“Number two, look at Asky’s name. Asky means African Sky.
Look at the color of the logo. The golden and the brown. The brown is the brown
color of the Africans. The golden is all the minerals and the gold which is in
Africa, be it in Ghana, Mali, Niger, and elsewhere. Number three, Asky is
Pan-African because Asky is employing pilots and cabin crew from Senegal to
Chad to Ghana to Gabon to Benin to Togo to Niger and from everywhere. Even from
Nigeria, from Sokoto to Maiduguri, to Ogun State and to Abia State, all
geopolitical zones. In fact, the largest concentration of pilots flying as Asky
are from Nigeria. So this shows you that Asky is Pan-African in terms of its
employment opportunities, in terms of its brand, look and feel and logo, in
terms of its network. It is living true to its claim. It does not deny its
claim of being Pan-African,” the CEO said.
He said that the highpoint of what he would want to achieve
as the CEO of Asky Airlines is to instill proficiency and technical knowledge
in Africans, to train aviation experts who could market their technical skills
globally.
“The singular high point I have in mind is that Africa needs
aviation proficiency. People talk about brian drain from Africa to the
developed world, but when it comes to aviation, Africa does not have the
trained aviation expertise to drain. So, Africa needs to train a lot of
aviation experts. This is a highly skilled intensive industry which requires
license, modulated license and other things. So, the high point is that Asky
should be bent on developing aviation in the region by way of training aviation
professionals. This needs to be done in
every country in Africa; to train aviation professionals. The more aviation
professionals we have, we can help aviation to grow in the continent,” he said.
Hailu disclosed that Asky started from a humble beginning,
operating Bombardier Q400s, which are Turbo props aircraft with ultra narrow
body. Now Asky has migrated into jet engine. Asky is operating Boeing B737 MAX,
B737-800, which are new generation aircraft.
“Asky is now having 15 aircraft and 28 destinations. And
Asky has diversified its network all the way to East Africa, Kenya, Nairobi,
and all the way to South Africa, Johannesburg, as well as to the westernmost
part Praia Cape Verde, and a big network of 28 destinations. So Asky has grown
within the last 13 years. It has outgrown from a humble beginning of a regional
operator, and has truly become a pan-African airline,” he added.