Aviation Experts Harp On Low Interest Rate

As the country continues to battle with the dearth of domestic airlines, aviation experts have called on the federal government to grant airline operators access to credit at low interest rate to boost the sector.

The Director, Research and Strategy, Zenith Travel and Tours, Olumide Ohunaya said federal government’s decision to stop the payment of custom duties on aircraft and aircraft parts as contained in the 2013 Appropriation bill was a welcome development.

He however, stated that government should go further by providing  access to capital at the lowest rate possible to commercial carriers with a minimum of five aircraft and 19 sectors capacity.

“We require a new set of investors in the airline operations with different orientation and the ability to maintain a strong operational cash, not toying with other people’s money,” he said.

Also speaking, the publicity secretary, Association of Foreign Airlines Representatives in Nigeria (AFARN), Herbert Odika decried the high fares charged by the airlines operating in the country, but added that the airlines were not responsible for this problem.

“For a lay man that is not in the industry would obviously blame the carriers for hike in fares, but when you look closely at your ticket, you would notice that charges that are paid on any tickets given, are against the actual fare which goes to the carrier.

According to him, one of the major reasons why airlines make so much losses in Nigeria is because they are not in the culture of code-sharing. British Airways, Alberia, Sky team, KLM-Air France, Kenya Airways, Star Reliance, Lufthansa all form alliances so that when they have issues, say technical problems, over-booking issues, they can endorse people to other flights and sort out their finances later.