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High Customs duties kill ground-handling business in Nigeria—–SAHCO boss —-begs government for waivers

Eyewitness reporter
The Managing Director, Skyway Aviation Handling Company (SAHCO), a subsidiary of SIFAX Group,Mr. Basil Agboarumi, has raised serious concerns over the debilitating effects which  the high customs duties on ground-handling equipment have on the business of ground Handling companies in the country.
Agboarumi, who spoke in Lagos at the weekend, believed that for the operators of ground-handling companies to break even in Nigeria, government should give them palliatives similar to the gesture offered to airline operators in terms of duty waivers on the importation of these equipment.
He noted that, just like aircraft and aircraft parts that enjoy duty waivers are sourced in international market, ground handling equipment are similarly expensive and equally procured outside the country.
The SAHCO boss disclosed that operators of ground handling business have come together to approach government on the need to get duty waivers if they were to remain in business.
Towards this end, he revealed that they  had sent documentation and representation to the Ministry of Aviation and Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) in the hope that the issue can be looked at and given speedy approval and implementation.

”We felt that no matter what government is doing for the airlines, ground handling should be included and benefit from it too.

‘It is just the same way aircraft are gotten from abroad that is our own are brought in because none of our equipment is manufactured in Nigeria.

“We also place orders so that the manufacturers do them. We pay quite a lot of money to get in our handling equipment. We believe that what should be done is that same kind of waivers that the airlines are enjoying should also be extended to us to make life easier for us.

“We are taking our case to the government, Ministry of Aviation and the NCAA as the representative of government in the aviation industry.

“The last point was NCAA requesting for some information from us and some of the things that we learnt has to do with the issues have been raised in some higher places and they needed to submit data and positions.

“So we submitted our position and I believe that they have taken it from us and we are expecting a feedback from government in that regard. We believe governments should look at us.”

Agboarimi disclosed that  SAHCO spend huge sum as customs duty on most of its equipment and this could be saved and ploughed back to improve the business if waivers are granted.

“At times,  we spent as much as N36 million to clear just one equipment”  he lamented.
“It is huge. Everything we bring in. We spent N36 million to clear one of our equipment recently.
“Sometimes, you have some of our equipment that goes as much as one million dollars. We have equipment like that.

“As I talk to you, there are equipment we placed orders for since early 2020. By the time pandemic started, we still wanted to go on but we couldn’t raise funds. There was one that finished manufacturing and we couldn’t have money to pay, so they have to give it to another ground handling company.

“Sometimes, it takes about six months to produce ground handling equipment. These are some of the challenges. We fabricate those ones we have the capacity to do”

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Aviation

News Alert! Pandemonium in Lagos as Helicopter explodes, crashes into building

The Eyewitness Reporter
Confusion and panic gripped the residents of Oba Akran area of Lagos when a Helicopter crashed into a resident building in the area.
According to an eyewitness at the scene of the incident, the helicopter crashed into a building located adjacent  AP filling station and United Bank of Africa (UBA) and exploded.
The incident, which happened around 3:00 pm Tuesday, caused pandemonium among the residents in the area who ran helter-skelter.
Sources said the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) was immediately mobilised to the scene where four persons were rescued from the wreckage.

NEMA’s Lagos Territorial Office Coordinator, Ibrahim Farinloye who confirmed the crash, said rescue operations were ongoing.

He said details were still sketchy, adding that information would be provided as soon as they were available.

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Aviation

Sirika, former Aviation minister, ‘jets’ into DSS custody over Air Nigeria controversial project

Hadi Sirika
The Eyewitness Reporter
The Department of State Services (DSS) has caught up with Hadi Sirika, the former Minister of Aviation over the controversial Air Nigeria project.
The former Aviation minister was taken into the custody of the secret police for questioning on the national carrier project widely believed to be a scam.
He was said to have reported himself to the DSS office in Abuja Thursday in a Range Rover SUV after which he was reportedly grilled for several hours over the failed project.
Sirika had, at the twilight of his tenure, went through what was later discovered to be a charade when he launched the multi-million dollar national air carrier, Air Nigeria.
The lid on what has now been described as a scam ”launch” was blown open by the Acting Managing Director of Nigeria Air, Captain Dapo Olumide, who admitted that the plane that was unveiled as Air Nigeria was a chartered aircraft from Ethiopian Airlines.
Olumide had told the stunned members of the Senate Committee on Aviation that the aircraft was leased from Ethiopian Airlines and merely used to unveil the Air Nigeria logo as the real Air Nigeria project was yet to be operational.
The plane that was unveiled was confirmed to be over 10 years old and had previously been operated by Ethiopian Airlines and Malawi Airlines.

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Aviation

Emirates airline suspends operations in Nigeria over $85m trapped funds

 

Eyewitness reporter 

From September 1st, 2022, Emirates airlines will cease to operate flight operations in and out of Nigeria.

The beleaguered airline said the operational environment in Nigeria is suffocating as its $85 million is still trapped in the country.
In addition, the airline said the unavailability of foreign exchange has complicated an already bad situation.
In a press statement made available to newsmen, the airline said it will stop its operation indefinitely starting from September, 1st 2022 till after it was able to repatriate its trapped fund.

It could be recalled that Emirate airline had cut down on its weekly number of flights into Lagos from 11 to seven over US$85 million of funds awaiting repatriation from Nigeria.

The airline said the figure has been rising by more than $US10 million every month, as the ongoing operational costs of our 11 weekly flights to Lagos and 5 to Abuja continue to accumulate.

They, however, said that the trapped funds are urgently needed to meet operational costs and maintain the commercial viability of their services to Nigeria.

“We simply cannot continue to operate at the current level in the face of mounting losses, especially in the challenging post-COVID-19 climate. Emirates did try to stem the losses by proposing to pay for fuel in Nigeria in Naira, which would have at least reduced one element of our ongoing costs, however, this request was denied by the supplier,” the airline had said.

However, with no considerable improvement and headway in repatriating the trapped fund, the airline, on Thursday, announced the suspension of its operations in Nigeria indefinitely.

The statement reads, “Emirates has tried every avenue to address our ongoing challenges in repatriating funds from Nigeria, and we have made considerable efforts to initiate dialogue with the relevant authorities for their urgent intervention to help find a viable solution.

“Regrettably there has been no progress. Therefore, Emirates has taken the difficult decision to suspend all flights to and from Nigeria, effective 1st September 2022, to limit further losses and impact on our operational costs that continue to accumulate in the market.

“We sincerely regret the inconvenience caused to our customers, however, the circumstances are beyond our control at this stage. We will be working to help impacted customers make alternative travel arrangements wherever possible.”

“Should there be any positive developments in the coming days regarding Emirates’ blocked funds in Nigeria, we will of course re-evaluate our decision. We remain keen to serve Nigeria, and our operations provide much-needed connectivity for Nigerian travelers, providing access to trade and tourism opportunities to Dubai, and to our broader network of over 130 destinations.”

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