As Nigeria marks 59 years of its Independence from British Rule , Chairman and CEO of Chanchangi Airlines, Alh. Musa Ahmadu Chanchangi has called on the Federal Government to financially support indigenous Airlines to stand the current economic bottleneck being experienced globally particularly in the aviation sector.
He recalled that the administration of Late President Musa Yar’adua through Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria ( AMCON) had to bail out Nigerian Airlines in the aftermath of the Global recession of 2007 which he said was the lifeline that saved Nigerian Airlines from shutting down business.
The CEO of the Kaduna based Airlines lamented high cost of running an airline business which he said was capital intensive.
” Airline business is a venture that is the exclusive reserve of men who put safety and lives of their passengers above profits and material advantages.
” Maintenance of aircraft by way of carrying out the mandatory routine checks , engaging highly professional pilots and updating the Airlines’ operational entity are needed attributes that must not be compromised by any serious minded airline operator.
” Having a consistent safer skies in the aviation industry, there is need for regular Government interventions aimed towards supporting Airlines with good track records, Airlines which have not defaulted in paying back their previous debts.
” Fuelling is another area that Federal Government needs to look into because bulk of money Airlines make go to suppliers of aviation fuel known as Jet A1.
” Nigerian Airlines have been “closing shops” due to these factors and others not mentioned. It is therefore imperative for the FG to insulate these Airlines from nosediving as others before them have fallen. ” Alh Chanchangi said.
He however lauded the achievements and efforts of the present Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika for his commitments and giant strides in reforming the aviation sector by rehabilitating major airports across Nigeria in order to reposition the nation’s aviation sector to compete with its counterparts in Europe and Asia.
He expressed hope and optimism in the Nigerian project towards achieving greatness and bequeathing a prosperous nation to the upcoming generations.