ONE of major events that heralded the year in the aviation industry was the suspension of the Air Operators’ Certificate (AOC) of Discovery Airline by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) over issues of passengers’ safety and the carrier’s inability to resolve issues of flight cancellations and delays.

NCAA had earlier issued a statement where it said that due to the poor weather condition, which was affecting aircraft visibility and led to many flight cancellations, it had ordered airlines in the country to observed some safety guidelines, but that when it decided to carry out an audit on the airlines to find out the level of compliance, it discovered that Discovery defaulted. In a similar exercise bordering on non-compliance with official directives and operational regulations, the Authority also grounded two foreign registered aircraft over involvement in illegal domestic flights. The aircraft were Bombardier 700-100 registered as G-RBEN Global express S/N 9083 operated by Gama Aviation, United (UK) Limited and Embraer 135 J with registration mark XA-MHA.

In taking the decision, the NCAA disclosed NCAA the operator of G-RBEN aircraft was found operating in Nigeria’s airspace with falsified flight clearance information and conducting illegal domestic flight operations in the country.

The operator was further alleged to be conducting illegal commercial revenue flight contrary to conditions contain in the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations (NCARs).

The year also witnessed unfolding of a roadmap for the sector by the former Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka, roadmap which many people in the industry were doubtful of its. Their skepticism stemmed from the fact that roadmaps by successive ministers of aviation ended with their removal. While other doubted the implementation of the scheme, many argued that the minister should be given the benefit of the doubt to see what he was set to achieve with it.

The sector witnessed incident of congestion at the international wing (cargo) of the Murtala Mohammed Airport, after the Nigerian Customs Service closed down the warehouses following a fracas between customs officers and some clearing agents at the airport.

Some of the newly remodeled airport terminals, no doubt, made travel more enjoyable, though the project, which started three years ago is yet to be completed.

The year was not without sad news for commercial aviation as Bristow helicopter carrying 12 oil workers, delved into the Lagos Lagoon near Oworoshoki on August 12, 2015 killing six occupants including the pilot and his 26-year old co-pilot. The accident involved a Sikorsky S-76C+ helicopter, owned by Bristow which was returning from a drilling rig offshore. Fortunately, four of the passengers survived the crash with only minor injuries.

Two other crashes that occurred in the industry belong to the military. The first involving a Dornier-228 aircraft, with registration NAF030 happened in Kaduna less than three weeks after the Bristow crash, killing all seven Air Force officers, including the pilot and his co-pilot. The plane, operated by the Nigeria Air Force (NAF) in Kaduna was on its way to Abuja when it crashed few minutes after take off at the Kantoma Army Barracks.

The second military crash, involving the Super Puma, had four officers of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) on board. The helicopter crashed shortly after take off at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos.

During the year, many domestic airlines like Medview Airline expanded flights operations to both international and local routes. Medview operating from Lagos added Accra, Lagos- London and Lagos- Jeddah to its routes in 2015.

Arik Air also began several West African services from the Lagos airport. The airline increased its frequency on Lagos-Accra-Monrovia route. It also launched an optional ad-on insurance cover scheme for its guests to make up for delays of over eight hours and lost baggages.

Dana Air began flights to the Sam Mbakwe Airport, Owerri, making its maiden flight from the Murtala Mohammed Airport in Lagos to Owerri Airport. The commencement of flights to Owerri was part of the airline’s domestic route network expansion plans for the year. The addition of Owerri brought the current route network coverage of the airline to five destinations – Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Uyo and Owerri.
The airline however, became the fourth Nigerian carrier to be doing scheduled flights to Ghana. The airline had said it would leverage on its low fare, excellent customer care and uncompromising on-time performance to lead the competition that will generate from the Lagos-Accra route.

Later in the year, the agencies in the sector reiterated that airlines operating in the country are still owing aviation regulators huge amount for services rendered to make their operations smooth and successful.
The airlines are reported to owe accumulated debt worth of N100 billion being un-remitted ticket sales charge, parking charge and other charges. The airlines also had several operational complaints including the alleged multiple charges by agencies, non-availability of loans and the falling value of the naira against the dollar.

The year also witnessed the appointment of new ministers to oversee the sector following the appointment of thje former River State G overnor Rotimi Amaechi and Hadi Sirika by President Muhammadu Buhari as Minister and Minister of State respectively for Transport which covers the aviation sector.