Fire threatens Abuja airport

Bush burning at Abuja Airport

Bush burning close to the General Aviation wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, NAIA Abuja over the weekend threatened lives and  equipment  worth billions of dollars. Ascertaining the cause of the fire, an operator of Business Aviation said, “it was caused by Bushrat Chasers close to the airport. In the process they use fire and because of the dryness of the grasses it led to uncontrollable inferno.” The operator also said the  airport fire fighters could not gain access to the area on time because it was difficult.

He advised that the Ministry of Aviation and the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, FAAN should construct and or upgrade access roads around the Perimeter Fence of all the airports in the country for proper security and quick response to any threat to the airports when the needs arise. “ The access roads around the Perimeter Fence will enable adequate security coverage of the airport and curtail  porosity”.

“The Ministry and FAAN should also put preventive measures in place since this is an annual threat because of the weather condition. Message should go out to hunters and residents close to the nation’s airports that there should not be any burning whatsoever around the airport because of the danger it poses to both lives and equipment at the airport.”

Arik Air resumes flights to Sierra Leone

After the World Health Organisation, WHO has declared Sierra Leone Ebola free,  Arik Air is resuming flight services to the country from February 23, 2016.

Flights from Lagos to Freetown were suspended in July 2014 at the outbreak of the Ebola in some West African nations.

According to the airline, “the resumed service will entail a new schedule with flights from Lagos to Freetown now routed via Accra, Ghana. This will be a three weekly flight to be operated on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday using a Boeing 737-800 Next Generation (NG) aircraft configured to carry 20 Business Class and 126 Economy Class passengers.”

Explaining the schedule of the operation, the carrier said the outbound flights will depart Lagos at 7:20 am and arrive Accra at 7:20 am. The flight then departs Accra at 8:05 am and arrives in Freetown at 10:30 am. The inbound flight leaves Freetown at 11:15 am and arrives Accra at 1:40 pm. The flight then continues onto Lagos, leaving Accra at 2:25 pm to arrive into Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos at 4:25 pm. All times are local.

Arik Air made its foray into Freetown in June 2009 and had operated uninterrupted until July 2014.

Arik Air’s Managing Director, Mr. Chris Ndulue said of the resumption of flights to Freetown: “Arik Air is the dominant carrier in West and Central Africa and air travelers in this region look up to us to fly them to their destinations. We want to assure our loyal customers on the Lagos-Freetown route that we are back to deliver the safe, secure and reliable services that are the hallmark of Arik Air.”

Qatar Airways may launch world's longest flight

A planned direct flight between Doha, Qatar, and Auckland, New Zealand, would be the world's longest.

A whopping 18½-hour journey between Doha, Qatar, and Auckland, New Zealand, is poised to become the world's longest direct flight if Qatar Airways follows through with plans for the new route.

Qatar CEO Akbar Al Baker revealed plans for the ultra-long haul in an interview with Bloomberg Business at last week's Bahrain Air Show.

Boeing 777-LR aircraft would be used to make the trip, Bloomberg Business reported. The aircraft can carry 259 passengers.

No word yet on when the airline might start the service.

Currently, the world's longest flight is operated by Qantas between Dallas-Fort Worth and Sydney, according to statistics portal Statista.com.

At 16 hours and 55 minutes (8,577 miles/13,804 km), the Qantas flight's duration falls short of Qatar's proposed Doha-Auckland route (9,034 miles/14,539 km) by more than an hour-and-a-half.

Setting records for flight distance or duration is a moving target. Emirates Airline is set to eclipse current frontrunner Qantas in the spring, when it launches a route from Dubai to Panama City, Panama, that would last 17 hours and 35 minutes.

And Singapore Airlines, which held the record for the longest nonstop flight until 2013, has considered taking the title back with possible resumption of its nearly 19-hour flights between New York and Singapore.

                                                                                                                                          Source: CNN

Royal Air Maroc launches new routes in summer 2016

… connects West Africa to North America

Royal Air Maroc is gearing towards expanding its coast to further allow passengers to have a new feel of their connections. The Moroccan carrier will be connecting from its operating hub in Casablanca to Nairobi Kenya in Africa, Rio De Janeiro Brazil in South America and Washington DC United States of America in North America. According to a statement from the airline, “As part of the development of its international network and connectivity from its Casablanca hub, Royal Air Maroc launch three new Long destinations from summer 2016, Nairobi , Rio De Janeiro and Washington DC. Schedules and days of services programmed for these three new destinations offer good network connectivity and also allows to perfectly connect West Africa to North America for an optimal time to stopover.”

The Nairobi route is proposed to start March 30th, 2016 with service days to be Wednesday and Friday. “Connectivity offered: Europe, Intra-Africa and North America in both directions”.

For the Rio De Janeiro route will commence May 3th, 2016 with Monday, Wednesday and Friday being the service days. On this route, “the transition to 4 frequencies is planned from September 2016.Connectivity offered: Europe, Africa in both directions”.

While the Washington DC route will start on September 10th, 2016 with service days: Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. “Connectivity offered: Europe, Africa in both directions”.

Dangerous Winter Storm Jonas Bringing Crippling Snow, Arik reschedules flight

With the dangerous Winter Storm Jonas in the United States of America many airlines are forced to cancel their flights. Nigeria’s Arik Air  is rescheduling flight. According to the airline, “Following weather advice just received from JFK International Airport New York, Arik Air regrets to inform all its passengers that the Lagos - New York flight for Friday 22nd January has been rescheduled tentatively to 11:30pm (local time) on Sunday 24th January, 2016.

This 48-hour postponement is intended to allow the dangerous winter storm (Jonas) and snow condition to clear before the flight’s entry into the United States airspace.

Arik Air regrets the inconvenience caused by this postponement which is highly regretted, but the safety of passengers is of upper-most importance to the airline.

We would update passengers and confirm our next flight by 6pm Saturday, 23rd January, 2016.”

Winter News in its reports also said a potentially crippling snowstorm has made its way towards the South, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, bringing with it not just big snow, but ice, high winds and flooding as well. Two people have died due to traffic incidents, and hundreds of crashes have been reported.

In the face of blizzard warnings in D.C., Baltimore, New York City, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, millions of residents are preparing for a havoc-filled weekend. The storm has already brought treacherous travel conditions and power outages across the South. Washington D.C. and at least eight states made emergency declarations: New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Tennessee.

Copies of judgment between Air Nigeria and Ex-staff

PRESS RELEASE: AERO CONTRACTORS’ MANAGEMENT POSITION TO THE UNION PROTEST

AERO CONTRACTORS’ MANAGEMENT POSITION TO THE UNION PROTEST

Gentlemen of the Press,

This is our story:

On the 11^th of December 2015, the Chairmen of the Aero Branch of Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) and National Union of Air transport Employees (NUATE) in persons of Messrs Emakpor Ayo-Ife and Adeniyi Adenuga requested for management approval through the Human Resources Department to hold a congress meeting on 14^th December 2015.  The request was expressly approved on that premise as it is the practice.

To our surprise and outside the normal operandi of the congress meeting, the Associations stormed our premises with their own Press Crew and Security details in such a predetermined manner and protested within and around the Company premises thereby causing serious embarrassment to our esteemed customers.

In the cause of this protest on 14^th December 2015, two of our staff who are also members of the Association (Messrs Emakpor Ayo-Ife and Adeniyi Adenuga) divulged sensitive Company information to the press which is contrary to the Company Policy and had the tendency to potray the company in bad light.

In line with this, the HR department was directed by management to initiate disciplinary procedure against two of the company’s employees who are incidentally members of these associations for infringements of company policy. To this end, both employees were issued with queries by the Ag. Head of the company’s Human Resources Department and the responses received from these employees’ pointed to the fact that there was a need for the company to carry out investigation into the matter. In line with the policy of our company and international labour laws, when the need arises for an investigation to be conducted concerning infringements of this nature, the company places the relevant staff on suspension pending the outcome of the investigation in order to forestall the employee from interfering with the investigation process.  

 To our dismay and embarrassment, immediately the disciplinary procedure was being initiated by the Human Resources department of the company, the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) and the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) wrote us letters threatening to disrupt the activities of the company if the disciplinary procedure is not reversed.

We find the attitude of these Associations unacceptable and their disposition towards our company in relation to their biased stand regarding the present issue has led the management of our company to conclude that, in future, these Associations will attempt to frustrate our company’s efforts towards maintaining staff discipline if left unchecked and it is in this vein that we officially reported these Associations to the Labour and Productivity Ministry, copying the Aviation ministry, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority and State Security Service with a plea to look into this matter with the ultimate goal of checking the unwholesome practice of these Associations because of its serious safety implications on our operations as an airline.

The management of Aero is open to discussions and ideas towards resolving labour disagreements. What is unacceptable is the inability of the Union to follow due process in resolving labour issues.

We remain a responsible and responsive organisation that we are. And we will continue to dialogue with the Union once the environment is conducive for such.

Thanking you for the interest in our organisation. We still remain your preferred choice.

faithfully,

For:  AERO CONTRACTORS COMPANY OF NIGERIA LIMITED

IYENE AMAPAKABO

Ag. Managing Director/CEO