FG seeks improved air connectivity among ICAO member countries

As the International Civil Aviation Organisation Air Service Negotiation (ICAO ICAN) conference ends yesterday in Abuja, the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, has pushed for stronger collaboration between ICAO member states to improve air connectivity among countries.

According to the minister, conferences like this would help open the world and connect the entire route by air such that the aviation sector would play the role it ought to play in the global economy.

Sirika, speaking at the end of the 5-day ICAO ICAN 2022 conference in Abuja, bemoaned the lack of air connectivity among member countries, saying despite Nigeria and Niger Republic being neighbours, passengers fly to Paris before connecting Niger Republic, with a journey of about one and half hour taking nine hours because of no direct connectivity.

“Also, Latin America to Nigeria is about a nine-hour journey, but a passenger has to spend two and half days to get there.”
He disclosed that Nigeria has been signing Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) with countries including the United Kingdom, Comoros Island, Ethiopia, and most recently, Seychelles, adding that the conference has given countries opportunities to negotiate how air service will be conducted in each county, which gives the opportunity to connect.

The minister mentioned that the hosting of the ICAN 2022 conference has further strengthened the resolve to implement the Single Africa Air Travel Market (SAATM), a flagship project of the African Union Agenda 2063 to boost the continent`s economic integration agenda.

According to him, SAATM will ensure aviation plays a major role in connecting Africa, promoting its social, economic, and political integration, and boosting intra-Africa trade and tourism as a result.

Meanwhile, the Director General of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, Captain Nuhu Musa, has pushed for a better salary structure for the staff of the agency to enhance service delivery.

He said “Several ICAO documents recommendations reveal that inspectorate division, inspectors and all those serving in the industry are supposed to earn at least the same as the people they are overseeing, but the NCAA being a public sector organisation is under the civil service rules.

“We are communicating with the relevant authorities, the Ministry of Aviation, and the National Assembly so that we can see how NCAA can be removed from the public service sector.

“I can give you an example. As a flight operation inspector, you need a very experienced captain to work with, nobody will leave an island to come work for the NCAA and earn 20 percent of the salary they earn as an airline pilot,” Nuhu said.