Najomo stated this at a meeting with a group of aviation
stakeholders in his office in Lagos on Tuesday, noting that the NCAA would make
a wide range of decisions that would help the aviation industry in terms of
consumer protection and airport certification.
He also promised new policies on the mode of handing over
aerodromes to the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria by the state government
among others.
He said the directive had been communicated to the carriers,
stressing that the action would engender efficiency in the sector that has made
air travel no longer enjoyable as travellers continue to decry the attitude of
many of the airlines and the total lack of consumer protection.
He, however, noted that some of the problems that cause
flight delays or cancellations are caused by factors beyond the airlines’
control.
He further stated that the aviation regulatory body was
doing so much in-house to reduce the menace that has taken the joy out of air
travel.
Najomo said, “The airlines are biting more than they can
chew. Lack of planning is causing some of the delays we are experiencing. Some
airlines for instance have less than four aircraft and they want to fly all the
routes. That is not possible because four aircraft capacity cannot sustain the
type of operations you are doing.
“Some of the delays, and cancellations by Air Peace are
because you want to go everywhere when there may not be adequate aircraft to
cover that volume of operations”.
Najomo also said that a policy would be made to ensure that
the state-owned airports are run by the state governments for at least five
years before they are handed over to FAAN to manage.
According to him, out of the 32 airports in the country,
only about six are viable — Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, Nnamdi Azikiwe
Airport Abuja, Port-Harcourt International Airport, Mallam Aminu Kano
International Airport, Kano and Owerri Airport.
He said the regulatory authorities are ‘forced’ to spend
revenue earned from four viable terminals in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, and
Kano to subsidise operations in these other airports managed by FAAN.
From estimation, he said at least N400bn have so far been
expended on such projects by the states, a development which observers reckon
as a mere conduit to siphon public funds than for economic interests.
He added, “Many of these airports are for political reasons.
Most of the airports are unviable; built without traffic in mind and leaving
the burden to the Federal Government to shoulder. Airports should be a catalyst
for economic development. It has to be well thought through. It becomes a
problem when an airport will not generate economic returns.”