Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) on Thursday claimed that their members lose over $180 million (N41.4 billion) to bird strike incidents at airports in the country yearly.

Capt. Noggie Meggison, Chairman, AON, made the claim while speaking at the Nigeria Leadership Initiative (NLI) Safer Skies Forum in Lagos.

Meggison, who spoke on the topic, ‘Aviation Safety: Operators’ Perspective’, also attributed over 70 per cent of crashes in the country to oversight deficiencies of regulatory agencies.

He said that the operators lose engines to bird strike yearly and aircraft engines now cost between $40 million and $70 million, depending on the aircraft.

Said Meggison: “We need to start looking at landing aids and landing areas at airports because over 70 percent of air crashes in Nigeria are linked to negligence on the part of aviation parastatals and oversight deficiencies of regulatory agencies.

“For instance, the ADC crash was due to air traffic control issue; Wings aviation crash due to wrong charting by Nigerian Airspace Management Agency while Associated Plane was on ground for 24 months before it was taken to the skies.

“We need to look at the issues and not sweep issues under the carpet in Nigeria.

“We have issues ranging from bad drainage runway surface to failure of air traffic controller to properly monitor runways, among others.”

Also speaking, Mr Adamu Abdullahi, Director, Consumer Protection Directorate of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), identified aging workforce and paucity of funds, amongst others, as challenges facing the sector.

Abdullahi said Nigeria was investing heavily on manpower development, adding that government was also revamping the Nigerian College of Aviation, Zaria for personnel training in critical areas.

On his part, Mr Yemi Dada, Managing Director, IRS Airlines, said airlines were not making profit in Nigeria due to problems ranging from inadequate infrastructure, insecurity and operating a dollar based system. (NAN)

•Photo shows AON Chairman, Capt. Meggison.

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