BSP Has Restored Confidence Of Airlines – NCAA

The Director-General, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Dr Harold Demuren, says the Billing  and Settlement Payment (BSP) has restored confidence and mutual  trust  between members of the powerful airline cartel and local travel management firms.

BSP is a system designed to simplify selling, reporting and remitting procedures of International Air Transport Association (IATA) accredited passenger  sales agents  as well as  improve financial control and cash flow for BSP airlines.

The NCCA boss told The Tide that the system had  brought tremendous  progress into the  aviation sector since its introduction in 2008, saying that the travel agencies were almost dead as the foreign  airlines were killing them.

According to him, the BSP has restored confidence  in local travel firms and created more job opportunities in the country’s aviation industry.

He said: “we fought that battle and we won. Today, we have the strongest downstream in the aviation sector and the travel agency system”.

Before the introduction of the BSP in Nigeria, major airlines required each  travel management firm to produce bank guarantees  and performance  bonds for as much as N30 million, forcing  many to close shop.

Demuren, who worked with IATA and the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) to introduce the BSP system in Nigeria, noted that it was good for the country.

He disclosed that globally, 400 airlines are in the BSP system in 160 countries with sales in  2010 exceeding about  $200 billion, adding that more than 26 airlines operating in Nigeria, including Air Nigeria and Arik Air were also members of the BSP.

Damuren stated that the BSP had also brought integrity into travel management business by protecting  airlines against loss of revenue.

Meanwhile, Southwest Airlines won United States of America’s government approval to buy out Air Tran Holdings in a deal that will add East Coast muscle to Southwest’s operations as it takes on bigger rivals.

Antitrust enforcers at the Justice Department signed off on the $1.04 billion deal on  conditions, concluding it would not hurt competition or raise fares. “The merged firm will be able to offer new services on routes that neither serves today”, the agency said in a statement.

Government approval came hours after a South-west  Boeing 737-700 with 134 passengers  ran off the runway at a rainy period Midway airport in Chicago, though no one was hurt.

Southwest is also in the midst of a federal safety investigation of older 737s after a hole opened up in one of its aircraft on April 1, forcing an emergency landing in Arizona. No one was hurt in that incident either and investigators are focusing on fuseless cracks.