What can new national airline do differently to reverse 30% fall in cargo, passengers?
There are strong indications that if the prevailing infrastructure decay and gaps in the nation’s aviation industry is not improved ahead of the planned takeoff of the national carrier come December this year; the company may not pass the test of time.
Already, the Association of Foreign Airlines Representatives in Nigeria (AFARN), has called for massive improvement in aviation infrastructure so as to reverse the current drop in Nigeria’s air passengers, cargo figures which now stand as low as 30%.
President of AFARN, Kingsley Nwokoma in an interview, noted that “cargo and passenger movements have reduced in recent times to 50 per cent and 30 per cent respectively,” stressing that government must work out an attractive partnership template that will encourage private sector investors to deliver needed aviation infrastructures at all the 22 airports in the country.
Nwokoma decried that it was due to observed shortage of infrastructure in Nigeria that Ghana relied on to hijack most cargo exports that should have been handled in Nigeria.
