No plan to liquidate any airline – FG

Director General, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Capt Fola Akinkuotu has explained that the Federal Government has no intentention of liquidating any airline.

In recent months, the aviation industry has been undergoing one of its most challenging times, with most local airlines becoming “ailing” and shrinking in the number of aircraft plying domestic routes, while the few in operation battle to remain afloat owing to a number of factors, among them, inability to repay bank loans, high cost of aviation fuel, routine aircraft maintenance usually borne at high cost and in foreign currency, high cost of foreign exchange and all these added up shoot up the overhead of airlines and erode their profits.

The thinking in some quarters has been that some airlines should be shut down. Akinkuotu, who hosted top officials from Caverton Airlines in his Lagos office said it was, however, not in the best interest of even the NCAA to liquidate any airline. What was paramount, Akinkuotu said, was for all airline operators to adhere strictly to safety regulations.

“It is not in the interest of NCAA to liquidate any airline in the country,” Akinkuotu was quoted to have said in a statement signed by Fan Ndubuoke, spokesperson for the NCAA. “One good thing about the aviation industry is that the laws are there and compliance is very essential.

The way to go is to stand to accept compliance to the law at all times. As a regulator, he will always access airlines from the point of view of adherence to the industry laws,” the statement added.

The NCAA boss said the regulatory establishment would provide the enabling environment for airlines to operate and succeed. Akinkuotu, expressed a wish for airlines to succeed as well as praying for an accident/incident-free period throughout his tenure.

Earlier, the Chairman of Caverton and leader of the team, Mr. Aderemi Makanjuola told the director gseneral that his team had come to pledge their support to him, promising to continue to execute their work and responsibilities with due diligence and recourse to the existing industry laws, adding that they were always willing to make corrections whenever there was a mistake in the course of their operations.

He said they had also come to know the policy thrust of the DG even though, according to him, it had always been safety, safety and safety, so that they would know areas he would want them to contribute towards the growth of the industry.