Operators, regulators, and other stakeholders have dismissed the claims that aviation industry is bloated by old aircraft against the practice in developed nations, arguing that an aircraft’s age is less important than proper maintenance, which should be the primary focus.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Aviation, Senator Fatai Buhari,
had raised concerns about the prevalence of old aircraft in Nigeria’s aviation industry, contrasting it with practices in developed nations.
During a stakeholders’ engagement hosted by the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development in Lagos, Senator Buhari raised concerns about the prevalence of aging aircraft in Nigeria’s aviation industry.
The event also addressed key issues such as ground handling services, airline operations, and unruly passenger behavior.
Buhari urged aviation sector operators to be patriotic in their duties, stressing the importance of prioritizing Nigerians’ interests over personal gains.
“We are over-bloated with old aircraft, and that is the truth. When we are abroad and you are in an aircraft, you won’t even know that the aircraft is working, but immediately you enter any of our aircraft in Nigeria, you will either start reading the book of Psalms or the Holy Quran,” Buhari stated.
In response, the acting Director-General of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, Chris Najomo, disagreed with the senator, emphasizing that proper maintenance is the key factor in aircraft safety, not the age of the airplane.
Najomo further stressed that an aircraft’s age is less important than adhering to scheduled maintenance. He noted that even new planes have crashed, while well-maintained older aircraft continue to operate safely.
“How sound an aircraft is is not measured by its age but rather by the level of maintenance the aircraft gets. Maintenance is key, and surveillance on our part is important. What the minister has done with Cape Town Convention Practice is to get airlines to have access to newer equipment,” he said.
The Vice President of the Airlines Operators of Nigeria and Chairman of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, stated that Nigeria boasts one of the youngest aircraft fleets globally.
Onyema noted that some foreign airlines operate older aircraft but maintain and present them so well that passengers perceive them as newer than Nigerian domestic planes.
“Nigeria has one of the youngest fleets in the world. America, if you go there, you see all those Ghana planes, those MD83 planes. Some American airlines are using planes that are almost 40-something years old.
“So when you go to America, the difference between us and them is that when you enter their aircraft, you see a 50-year-old aircraft flying, and it’s so neat. You will think that the aircraft was purchased yesterday. But I will tell you what, those aircraft are old. Yes, we have very young aircraft in our fleet here,” he said.
