Some airlines and cab operators have anticipated losses as the Nnamdi
Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, is set be shut tonight for its
runway repairs, the The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.
Abdullahi
Saroke, Station Manager, Azman Airlines, told NAN that 65 per cent of
flights operated from Abuja airport would likely to be cut off at Kaduna
resulting in losses.
Saroke explained that many lucrative
routes like Abuja-Lagos,Abuja-Enugu, Abuja-Kano and many others would be
affected as many passengers might decide to travel by road to those
destination.
He expressed fear that airlines might run at loss at
Kaduna, explaining that airlines take load factor into consideration
before flying a particular route.
According to him, if you fly
aircraft with 124 and 110 passengers’ seats with less than 85 or 90
passengers, you are running at a loss.
“From the airlines’
perspective, what I foresee will happen is that we are going to go to
Kaduna but not all routes will be viable.
“Then those routes that
we think will be viable from Kaduna, if you operated it and you are at
lost, I am sure with no time people will just shut down their operation
unless something is done.
“For these reasons, some airlines may
not want to go to Kaduna except those routes that are far like Port
Harcourt and Lagos but all these routes that are close to Abuja may
decide to stay away.
“Statistics has shown that 65 per cent of
domestic flights happened between Abuja and Lagos and this route is
going to be shut down by midnight on March 8.
“What that means is
that 65 per cent of this operation has been cut off remaining 35 per
cent and there are so many routes you cannot operate from Kaduna and
they are lucrative routes.
“Those routes are Abuja-Asaba, Abuja-Owerri, Abuja-Warri, Abuja-Port Harcourt, Abuja-Enugu and Abuja-Kano,’’ he said.
On
the free transportation arrangement by the government, Saroke advised
that there should be supporting vehicles in the event of breakdown or
tire burst since flights are time bound.
He also advised the
government to take into consideration the fact that airlines would not
be responsible for the passengers that miss their flight since it is the
government that handles their movement.
“In the event that the
passengers miss their flight, who pay their compensation and who takes
care of their accommodation if need be since it is the government that
is responsible for that?
“Those are the key areas the government
did not look at because in case you want to assist somebody and the
assistance failed, are you going to compensate the passengers,’’ he
queried.
Also, Aliyu Abdullazeez-Aliyu, Chairman, Airport Car
Hires Association (ACHA), Abuja Chapter, said his members would lose up
to N300 million during the period.
Abdullazeez-Aliyu said that a
larger number of the members would be out of job during the six weeks
period, adding only few of their members would join those at Kaduna.
He
added that the association would deploy between 150 to 200 car hire
members to Kaduna airport to complement those operating there.
According
to him, it is our Kaduna branch that is absorbing some of them from
Abuja because both Abuja and Kaduna belong to one national body.
“Quantitatively,
we stand to lose about N300 million to N500 million within these six
weeks because our members make millions of naira on daily basis here.
“Our
operation will be at Kaduna within this period because of those that
will prefer to travel privately but we don’t have provision in the city
centre.
“There will be processing of passengers in Abuja but that
will be exclusively government arrangement because they are providing
free buses to convey them to Kaduna,’’ he said.
Abuja Airport Closure: Airlines, Cab Operators Anticipate Losses
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