The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) says the aviation industry will need help and financial intervention from the federal government to recover from the COVID-19 effect.
FAAN Director General Captain Rabiu Yadudu made the revelation at the 25th Annual Conference and Awards Ceremony hosted by the League of Aviation and Airports Correspondents (LAAC) in Lagos on Thursday.
The Nigerian News Agency (NAN) reports that the theme of the conference is Nigeria Aviation Industry: Management, Policy and Regulations.
The chief executive said the devastating effects of COVID-19 would take the authority another 24 months or more for the industry to fully recover.
Yadudu said all aviation agencies and other industry support services needed urgent assistance to improve their operations.
He said: “Without financial relief, I don’t see a quick recovery. We need an aggressive policy and we need to do a lot more on the implementation which is very aggressive.
“As you know, the pandemic has put the global economy to the test, with air travel arguably the hardest hit by the pandemic.
“It comes as statistics from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) on the economic impact of COVID-19 on Nigeria revealed a loss of revenue of $ 994 million in 2020.
“In terms of jobs at risk in Nigeria, it is 125,370 and the loss of contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) is $ 885 million.”
Yadudu noted that the federal government was able to cushion the effect of COVID-19 by providing response funds of N5 billion to domestic airlines; funds deemed derisory to save airlines from their precarious situation.
Speaking, Air Peace President Mr. Allen Onyema lamented the devastating effects of COVID-19 on airlines and the aviation industry as a whole, saying Nigeria was not excluded from the pandemic.
Onyema said a lot has been said about airlines in the country, as the lack of good regulations and policies has been blamed for the myriad of problems facing the industry.
According to him, things are changing and we hope things will get better, but why are airlines failing? Could it be from the airlines themselves and other factors?
“Government policies in the recent past were better than what we had in the past.
“The current government has done well in the area of politics such as exemption from tariffs on aircraft parts and VAT and others which are favorable to airlines,” he said. (NAA)
