AFARN Tasks Airlines On Code-Sharing System

Stakeholders in the aviation sector under the aegis of
Association of Foreign Airlines Representatives in Nigeria (AFARN) have
stressed the need for code-sharing system to enhance air travel in the country.

The president of the association, Kingsley Nwokoma stated
this at a forum organized recently to bring about sustainable growth in the
nation’s aviation sector.

He opined that government should give adequate support to
airlines and Cargo operator and also stressed the need for the private sector
to come up with code-sharing system for effective service delivery.

Also speaking, the Publicity Secretary of the association,
Herbert Odika reiterated the need for code-sharing system, saying that “one of
the major reasons why the airlines record losses in Nigeria is because they are
not in the culture of code-sharing.”

According to him, foreign airlines such as British Airways,
Alberia, ICLM-Air France, Kenya Airways, Lufthansa all form alliances so that
when they have issues, say technical problems, over booking issues, they take
their passengers to other airlines and sort out the finances later.

“We can blame the government all day long that the carriers
are not doing what they are supposed to do. Yes, we need the support of the
government, but we also expect the private sector to use their initiative to
come up with code-sharing system where all the domestic carriers are able to
come together and look at passenger traffic as per airline.

He added that a lot of airlines in the country were
recording losses as a result of the machines they were using for their
operations.

“The most popular aircraft in use today for the domestic
routes is Boeing 737. B737 is used by five international carriers that come
into Nigeria, like Egypt Air, Rwanda Air and others that do four hours flight.

“It goes to show that one hour or 45 minutes flight is not
economical, and at the end of the day who takes the bill, it goes back to the
passengers. And on top of that we are reporting losses. I would want a
situation where the government will speak with the private sector and look at
the machines they are bringing.

KLM still uses Forkler 27 as a sky hopper from Amsterdam to
the city airport in London. That is the plane that has been well out-dated in
Nigeria so many years ago, but they still use it because they carry only 28-30
passengers,” he said.