NIGERIA: Dana Air Added To IGOM Registry By IATA

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has listed Dana Air as the latest African carrier on its Ground Operations Manual (IGOM) registry.

The airline in a statement by Mr. Kingsley Ezenwa, its spokesman said IGOM registry was for companies and airlines who had demonstrated full compliance with internationally recognized standards for ground handling processes.

The IATA Ground Operational Manual concept which was initiated by the global carriers’ association, defines ground handling standards for airlines and ground service providers to ensure safe, efficient, and consistent ground service activities.

According to AITA, ground operations are essential task for all airlines and ground service providers to deliver smooth turnarounds and on time departures, with safety being the number one priority.

The IATA Board of Governors has set a target - 50 per cent of member airlines in 2006, to start to implement the IATA Ground Operations Manual (IGOM) as their minimum standard for ground operations.

The statement quoted Mr. Obi Mbanuzuo, Dana Air’s Accountable Manager as saying that the airline was listed after the international association confirmed its full adherence to global ground handling manual.

He expressed delight on the listing of the airline, stressing that it had consistently adhered strictly to global best practices in its operations.

He lauded IATA for recognising the airline’s ground handling safety standards and unwavering commitment to operational excellence.

We wish to also take the moment to reassure our ever-supportive and loyal guests of our strong desire to continue to provide safe, reliable and affordable air transport service in Nigeria, he added.

Dana Air is a Nigerian airline headquartered in Ikeja and based out of Lagos's Murtala Muhammed International Airport.

Dana Air serves the following destinations:

Abuja – Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport

Lagos – Murtala Muhammed International Airport base

Owerri - Sam Mbakwe Airport

Port Harcourt - Port Harcourt International Airport

Uyo - Akwa Ibom Airport

Dana Air fleet consists of the following aircraft:

McDonnell Douglas MD-82: 1

McDonnell Douglas MD-83: 3

Total: 4

On 3 June 2012, a Dana Air McDonnell Douglas MD-83 operating as Flight 992 crashed into a two-storey building at Iju Railway, Ishaga, a suburb of Lagos.

All 153 people on the aircraft were killed. Following the crash, all flights by Dana Air were halted by Nigeria's Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) until further notice.

On 7 February 2018, a Dana Air flight landed in Abuja and was taxiing on the runway when one of the emergency exit doors fell off.

No casualties resulted from the incident. Passengers claimed that the door rattled throughout the flight.

A spokesperson for the airline, however claimed that the door could not have fallen off without a conscious effort by a passenger.

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority instituted an investigation into the incident to determine what exactly happened.

On 20 February 2018, a Dana Air MD-83 with registration 5N-SRI veered of the runway at Port-Harcourt international airport during a night landing.

There were no casualties, but the aircraft suffered significant damage.

Both the airline and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria stated that the cause of the accident was inclement weather as there was torrential rain at the time of the landing.


Tourism Observer

NIGERIA: Arik Air Plane In Emergency Landing In Accra, Ghana

A Nigerian plane made an emergency landing in Ghana after smoke was detected in the cabin, officials said Friday, in the latest incident to hit domestic and foreign airline operators.

The aircraft, owned by Arik Air, was travelling from Lagos to Accra on Tuesday when the fault was detected but no-one was hurt, a company statement said.

Arik Air flight W3 304 from Lagos to Accra on March 6, 2018 declared an emergency in line with standard operating procedures, when an unknown source of smoke was detected in the cabin, it said.

The incident occurred 130 kilometres from the Ghanaian capital but the plane landed safely in Accra without further incident, it said.

It was the latest in a string of incidents involving the aviation sector over the past month.

On February 7, an emergency exit door fell off a Dana Air jet as it landed in Abuja after flying in from Lagos.

Six days later, an Atlanta-bound Delta airlines jet was forced to return to Lagos after a fire was detected in one of its engines with passengers using emergency slides to evacuate the plane, officials said.

On February 17, an Air Peace plane had to delay landing in the southwestern city of Akure because cows had strayed onto the runway.

Another Dana Air plane overshot the runway at Port Harcourt on February 20 due to heavy rain and flooding.

And on Wednesday, the Nigerian government ordered a complete audit of Dana Air's operations to determine the technical fitness of its fleet.

The airline was grounded after a 2012 crash outside Lagos that killed all 153 on board and six on the ground. Mechanical failure and pilot error were blamed.

Arik Air yesterday explained the smoke incident that happened on it’s flight W3 304 from Lagos to Accra,Ghana. A passenger aboard the said flight had on Thursday night accused the airline of not given passengers medical attention after the plane landed in Accra

Explaining what happened, Arik Air Communication Manager, Mr Banji Ola said : Arik Air flight W3 304 from Lagos to Accra on March 6, 2018 declared an emergency in line with standard operating procedures, when unknown source of smoke was detected in the cabin 81 miles from Accra.

The captain of the flight briefed the passengers accordingly assuring them that the aircraft was under control and safe for landing in Accra.

The aircraft, a Dash 8 Q400, landed safely in Accra without further incident and all passengers disembarked normally.

The aircraft is currently parked in Acrra and our team of engineers are conducting comprehensive inspections on the aircraft to ascertain the cause of the smoke, after which the aircraft will be flown without passengers to a maintenance facility for rectification and testing.

The relevant aviation authorities in Ghana and Nigeria have been briefed appropriately on the incident, he added.

Arik Air is a Nigerian airline operating mainly from two hubs at Murtala Muhammed International Airport near Lagos and Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.

Arik Air's head office is the Arik Air Aviation Center on the grounds of Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Ikeja. Arik Air serves a network of regional and mid-haul destinations within Africa.

On 3 April 2006, Arik Air took over the former Nigeria Airways facilities in Lagos, some three years after its liquidation, and began reconstruction work.

On 14 June 2006, Arik took delivery of 2 new Bombardier CRJ-900 aircraft to fly domestic routes throughout Nigeria and, within the African continent from Summer 2006, 2 ex-United Airlines Boeing 737–300s and 3 50 seat Bombardier CRJ-200 aircraft.

In August 2006, the Federal Ministry of Aviation granted Arik Air authorisation to fly to Trinidad and Tobago and Amsterdam, London and Madrid in Europe.

Furthermore, the airline then planned to fly to Atlanta, Miami, and Houston in the United States and Birmingham in the United Kingdom.

On 30 October 2006, Arik Air began scheduled passenger flights with four flights between Lagos and Abuja using CRJ 900 aircraft.

Flight operations began to Calabar on 15 November 2006 and services to Benin City and Enugu started on 7 January 2007. The airline is wholly owned by Ojemai Investments.

The Nigerian government set a deadline of 30 April 2007 for all airlines operating in the country to re-capitalise or be grounded in an effort to ensure better services and safety.

The airline satisfied the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA)’s criteria in terms of re-capitalisation and was re-registered for operation.

On 4 April 2008, Arik Air was given permission to fly to the United States by the US Department of Transportation.

Arik Air started international operations to London-Heathrow on 15 December 2008, using an Airbus A340-500 aircraft damp-leased from Hi Fly. It added Johannesburg on 1 June 2009, New York JFK on 30 November 2009, and Dubai on 28 July 2014.

Subsidiary airline Arik Niger commenced operations in April 2009, but was shut down in February 2010.

Arik Air transported its 5 millionth passenger on 6 August 2010 and it transported its 10 millionth passenger on 18 September 2012, both on flights between Johannesburg and Lagos.

On 20 September 2012, the airline cancelled all its domestic operations after aviation officials raided the airline's office in Lagos, Nigeria. Flights resumed on 23 September.

Arik Air had placed an order for five Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, which was cancelled in 2011.

Arik Air then placed an order for two Boeing 747-8I aircraft 2013. However, in early 2017, Arik Air converted the 747-8I orders to two Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners instead.

Arik Air had been the last remaining airline customer for the passenger 747-8 who had not yet received any examples, and now the United States Air Force and UPS Airlines are the sole remaining customers.

The conversion of the 747-8 order to Dreamliners came shortly after the airline, owing to major financial stress and most aircraft not being operational.

It was taken over by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) at the start of 2017, deeming the airline as too big to fail.

Since the takeover, all flights leaving Africa, along with flights to O.R. Tambo International Airport, have been gradually suspended.

Simultaneously, KPMG was appointed by AMCON to conduct a forensic audit on Arik Air's books.

Since then, AMCON is gradually in the process of reviving and stabilising the airline and its operations.

Arik Air in the restructuring has suspended all international operations except to Ghana, Senegal, and The Gambia, resulting in the A330 fleet being parked in France.

Arik Air has built up a domestic network covering mainly Nigerian and several other Western African destinations.

The Arik Air fleet includes the following aircraft

- Boeing 737-700 9

- Boeing 737-800 4

- Bombardier CRJ900 4

- Bombardier CRJ1000 1

- Bombardier Q400 2


Tourism Observer

NIGERIA: Dana Air Collides With Bird Mid-Air, Returns To Murtala Muhammed Airport II, Lagos.

A Dana Air aircraft en-route Port Harcourt on Friday morning, made an ‘air return’, some minutes after take-off from the Murtala Muhammed Airport II, Lagos.

The aircraft, with registration number 5N-SRI returned after colliding with a bird mid-air.

Kingsley Ezenwa, Communications Manager of the airline, confirmed the incident in a statement.

Mr. Ezenwa said the captain took a professional decision by returning to the Lagos airport.

A bird strike is a collision between a bird and an aircraft that is airborne and as per standard safety procedure which is the hallmark of our operation, our pilot returned to base.

Our guests have however been put on another aircraft to ensure that their itinerary is not entirely disrupted.

The aircraft is currently being evaluated by our engineers to determine the effect of the bird strike on its affected engine,he said.

The manager also assured Dana Air’s customers that the airline would continue to give priority to their safety and comfort.

The General Manager, Public Relations, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Sam Adurogboye, told NAN that the air return was a precautionary measure to prevent any untoward occurrence.

Mr. Adurogboye said the pilot acted according to Standard and Recommended Practices (SARPs), as such the incidences should not be sensationalised.

The pilot did the right thing by returning to base.

The aircraft had already lost one engine as a result of the bird strike and the standard practice is that the pilot should land at the nearest airport.

Once such incident occurs, it is mandatory for the airline to make a report to the NCAA, he said.

Mr. Adurogboye also restated NCAA’s commitment to the safety and security of Nigeria’s aviation sector.

This is the third incident recorded by the Nigerian aviation sector in the last 72 hours.

An Aero Contractors flight NG316 en-route Lagos, from Port Harcourt, was on Tuesday engulfed in smoke about 20 minutes after take-off, causing panic among the passengers.

Similarly, two aircraft belonging to Air Peace were on Thursday involved in a ground collision at the General Aviation Terminal of the Murtala Mohammed Airport, Lagos.

Meanwhile, Less than 48 hours after an Aero Contractor aircraft was engulfed in smoke while trying to land at the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos, another accident occurred at the airport on Thursday when two aircraft belonging to Air Peace collided while trying to manoeuvre their way around the tarmac of the local terminal.

The Air Peace spokesperson, Chris Iwarah, said that the collision occurred around 6.15 a.m. when its B737 aircraft with registration number 5N-BQR had “partial contact” with another B737 aircraft with registration number 5N-BQP.

Although the points of contact of the two aircraft were only slightly impacted, we took the cautious decision to declare them unserviceable to enable proper investigation of the incident, checks and repair by our Engineering and Maintenance Department in line with our high safety standards, Mr Iwarah said.

There were no passengers on the two aircraft involved in the incident. We have also revised our flight schedule to cater to our esteemed guests on the 14 sectors the two aircraft were scheduled to service today.

The spokesperson of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, Sam Adurogboye, denied that the incident was a collision. He said the wings of both aircraft merely grazed each other.

What happened was that one aircraft was packed. The other aircraft was trying to taxi and the wings of the one coming in touched the wings of the one on ground, he said.

If two airplanes collide, they will be on fire. But the two aircraft were both on ground and they have to repair the damage and we have to check them all over again before they can be cleared to return to service, he said.

When asked if Nigerians should be concerned about safety efforts put in place following Thursday’s incident, Mr. Adurogboye dismissed the concern.

He said accidents happen everywhere in the world and that Nigeria is not an exception.

When you use a machine, assuming you drive a car, even the one you packed in the house, when you want to use it there will be an issue with it. Every machine you are using there are bound to be issues. The same thing applies to aircraft.

There is nowhere in the world there are no issues. It is only in Nigerian that we report incidences. There are incidences all over the world. Aircraft drop off in the U.S. every week. So, to say because of three incidents, it should call for concern. We have 500 landings in MMA alone.

Thursday’s incident is similar to an incident in July 2015 when two Airbus 310 aircraft belonging to FirstNation brushed each other’s wings at the airport.

NIGERIA: Abuja Airport Closing For Six Weeks, International Airlines Reject Kaduna As Not Safe For Flights

Hardly 24 hours to the closure of Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport 9NAIA), Abuja for total rehabilitation of its runway, foreign airlines have continued to shun the alternate airport, Kaduna, insisting the airport is not safe for flight operations.

This is coming as local carriers jostle to increase their frequencies to Kaduna Airport in order to capture more passengers on the route pending the complete renovation of the Abuja runway.

Virtually all the foreign airlines spoken to by our correspondent said that they won’t relocate their operations to Kaduna despite the appeal of the Federal Government for them to do so.

The Airlines said that they have already informed the Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika that they would be suspending operations to Abuja the moment it is shut for total rehabilitation. For instance, British Airways in a statement signed by its Regional Commercial Manager West Africa, Mr. Kola Olayinka said that the airline considered several factors before deciding not to fly to Kaduna Airport.

The statement reads: “‘I can confirm that BA will not be operating to Kaduna during the planned closure of the Abuja Airport. “Many factors were considered before this decision was reached, major ones are concern about the safety and security of our passengers as well as difficulties around some key operational issues. “We are currently evaluating all options for our customers planning to travel at that time and we will be reaching out directly to them for information about their trip.”

Also, South African Airways in its letter to Sirika, informed him that it would cease flight operations to Abuja starting from today, March 6th 2017.

The letter was made exclusively available to our correspondent by a source close to the Ministry. The letter was signed by the Ag. Chief Commercial Officer, SAA, Mr. Aaron Munetsi.

The letter read in part: “SAA commends the Nigerian authorities concerning the planned repairs of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport runway. However, due to network and fleet operations planning, SAA regrets to advise that the airline will suspend its Abuja operations with effect from 6th March until April 18th 2017.

“The airline promised to be in constant touch with the Nigerian aviation authorities as the repair work progresses in order to establish its readiness for revised operations in accordance with the work schedule.” Besides, the media consultant to Lufthansa Airways, Mr. Hakeem Jimoh in a telephone conversation with our correspondent said that the carrier would not operate to Kaduna as directed by the government. Rather, he explained that the airline would continue to operate to Port Harcourt and Lagos, stressing that it would only return to Abuja Airport once it is re-opened for flight operations.

He explained that the airline has already stopped the sales of Abuja airport tickets for passengers intending to travel to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) from March 8, 2017. Jimo explained that passengers who had already booked ahead, the airline would offer them “no fee booking option,” which would allow them to change their travel plans to Lagos and Port Harcourt Airports without collecting additional charges from them.

He, however, said that for those who still prefer Abuja Airport to any of the alternatives offered by the airline, the management would make refunds to them without any charges.

He said: “There is no plan to operate to Kaduna Airport by the airline. We will soon suspend our operations to Abuja and return to the airport once it is re-opened for flight operations. We don’t have any codeshare arrangement with any Nigerian airline at least for now.


“So, for those who have already book ahead, we will give them alternatives, which is either Lagos or Port Harcourt that we still fly into in the country. We will offer them ‘no-fee booking option,’ which is the industry standards and if any passenger still doesn’t want to fly with us, we will make a full refund of their payments to them without any charges.”

Other airlines that operate into Abuja, but have declined to fly to Kaduna are Ethiopian Airlines, Turkish Airlines, EgyptAir, Air France and Lufthansa Airways.

However, indigenous carriers have indicated their willingness to operate direct flights to Kaduna as from tomorrow.
Dana Air in a press statement to journalist early this morning said I would commence four daily flights to the state from March 8, 2017.

The airline put the frequencies at 7.02am, 10.53, 13.23pm and 18.25pm, while there would be one flight each from Uyo and Port Harcourt to Kaduna keeping strictly to its scheduled time of departure.

Also, Med-View in a statement by its media consultant hinted that it would as from Wednesday commence five daily flights to Kaduna from Lagos.

The statement explained that with the schedule, all Med-View Airline flights to Maiduguri and Yola would be routed through Kaduna airport, but their departure and arrival time remain unchanged as well as flights originating from Lagos.

Commenting on the increased frequencies, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the airline, Alhaji Muneer Bankole said the schedule was a proactive measure taken to ensure that all its numerous passengers going to Maiduguri and Yola have a seamless transition to their various destinations while flying Abuja-bound passengers to Kaduna.

The troubled Nigerian Arik Air, has also announced a special promotional fare that would enable passengers to buy a one-way ticket to any destination in Nigeria from N16, 000 especially those on the Kaduna route.

Arik also introduced a new schedule for the airport. The airline said that it would be operating three daily flights between Kaduna and Lagos and one daily flight between Kaduna and Accra, Ghana during this period.

Abuja Airport runway was constructed in 1982 alongside the commissioning of the airport. Rather than the industry standards of 20 years before total overhauling, the runway was in use for 34 years without any major repairs.

While it is closed, Abuja-bound passengers will have to fly to Kaduna and travel by bus to the capital, guarded by security agents, on a road where kidnappings have become recurrent in the last few years.

The plans for Kaduna to handle Abuja flights have been met with skepticism. The airport handled just 12 flights in December 2015, the last month for which Nigeria’s airports authority has figures, compared with 812 that used Abuja.

NIGERIA: First Nation Airways Secures IOSA Certification

First Nation Airlines, one of the few surviving domestic airlines has secured the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) Certification.

This achievement by the airline brings to three the number of Nigerian domestic airline that have passed IOSA certification.
The other two airlines that had earlier secured IOSA certification are Arik Air and Aero.

However, there are still four domestic airlines that have not secured IOSA certification. They include Azman, Dana Air, Air Peace and Overland Airways.

The attainment of the feat by the airline was disclosed in an online statement signed by the Director, Flight Operations, Capt. Chimara Imediegwu and made available to journalists in Lagos.

Imediegwu stated that First Nation is now the first out of the 10 airlines across the African continent, chosen by IATA in 2014 to undergo the prestigious IOSA certification, to successfully complete the certification process and achieve IOSA registration within the timeline.

First Nation, he stated has joined the elite group of airlines across the globe holding IOSA certification, adding that the fact that the airline was able to attain this certification within record time attested to the airline’s robust structure.

First Nation from launch has assembled young crop of dynamic and motivated professionals which has resulted in the airline building a strong brand with respectable market presence within a relatively short period.

The airline, he said was currently working on aircraft fleet expansion that would see the airline grow aircraft fleet and route network.

Recalled that the 22nd Ordinary Session of the African Union (AU) Executive Council held on January 25th-26th, 2013 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia endorsed the Abuja Declaration and Associated Plan of Action on Aviation Safety in Africa, making it a requirement for all African Airlines to successfully complete IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) certification by end of 2015.

IOSA programme is an internationally recognised and accepted evaluation system designed to assess the operational management and control system of an airline.

IOSA certified airlines have the highest safety standard worldwide in 2014 and as such IOSA has become a global standard recognised well beyond IATA membership.

The certification will help to enhance African airlines safety and operational standards to world class and in line with industry best practice.

Meanwhile, as at the time of compiling this report, it was not clear if the remaining four airlines would be able to beat the 2015 deadline.

NIGERIA: Dana Air

Dana Air is an airline based in Ikeja, Lagos State, Nigeria and flying domestic services.Following a fatal air crash in 2012 its licence was suspended, but it was cleared by Nigeria's Civil Aviation Authority to resume flights in 2014

Dana Air serves the following destinations, all of which are in Nigeria:

Abuja – Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport
Lagos – Murtala Muhammed International Airport
Port Harcourt - Port Harcourt International Airport
Uyo - Akwa Ibom Airport

Before June 2012, Dana Air also served Calabar, Kano.

With an average age of 23 years per airframe, the Dana Air fleet includes the following aircraft:

Boeing 737-500 1
Boeing 737-800 5 Planes - To be leased from Ryanair
McDonnell Douglas MD-83 4 Planes- To be replaced by 737-800
Total 5 5

On 3 June 2012, a McDonnell Douglas MD-83 operating as Flight 992 crashed into a two-story building at Iju Railway, Ishaga a suburb of Lagos. All 153 people on board the aircraft were killed. Following the crash, all flights by Dana Air were halted by Nigeria's Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA). The airline's license was restored in September 2012 before the inquiry into the accident was concluded. However, in October 2013, the airline's license was once again suspended. The airline was audited and resumed flights on 26 January 2014 with 1 Boeing 737-500

Nigeria has numerous other airlines as below:

Aero Contractors
Allied Air
Arik Air
Associated Aviation
Chanchangi Airlines
Dana Air
Dornier Aviation Nigeria
First Nation Airways
IRS Airlines
Kabo Air
Med-View Airline
Max Air
Overland Airways
Pan African Airlines
Wings Aviation

NIGERIA: Dana Introduces Frequent Flyer Programme

One of the indigenous airlines, Dana Air has announced its frequent flyer programme; Dana Miles; which allows its guests to earn and redeem points or miles for travel across its route network.

The Accountable Manager, Dana Air, Mr. Obi Mbanuzuo in a statement stated that the initiative would enable Dana Miles members, access to upgrade their tickets, gain extra baggage allowance, exchange miles for tickets, and get priority checking-in at the airport.

Mbanuzuo said that the airline was always seeking new ways to serve its guests better, adding that introduction of Dana Miles; the airline’s frequent flyer program was just a way of strengthening its relationship with its loyal customers; while providing them more value for miles accrued.

He explained that membership was free and customers can become a Dana Miles member, by registering and completing an online enrollment form which automatically makes them a Blue-card member upon which they can progress to the Silver and Gold card holders, based on miles they are able to accrue.

It would be recalled that Dana Air recently created its online check-in platform to ease the travel experience of its guests. The web check-in icon enables its guests checkin, print boarding passes and select their preferred seats, all from the comfort of their homes.

The airline is reputed for its efficient customer service, innovative e-airline products, world-class in-flight service, on-time departures and arrivals, and high quality standards.