Aviation stakeholder and Chief Executive Officer of FCI International, Mr. Fortune Idu, has described the year 2023 as one of dashed hopes in aviation.
According to him, for 2023, aviation has been a mix of struggle for industry stability and lost opportunities.
In an interview with Daily Trust, he said 2023 was “an election year that preceded the year of great economic recession and a volatile increase in airfare.”
“The aviation industry shrank against the projection of expansion envisaged with the highly promoted airport terminal concession and the promise of the emergence of a national airline. It was a year of dashed hope,” he said.
Idu, who is the chairman of the Nigerian Aviation (NIGAV) Centre, however, called for data-driven planning to take aviation to the next level.
He said the current Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr Festus Kayemo, understands the importance of planning to address the challenges facing the sector.
He said, “What was clear in Aviation Year 2023 is how good initiatives can be destroyed by bad planning.
“However, I think the new minister of Aviation and Aerospace clearly understands the feelings of the public and industry professionals, and he is seeking a balance by setting an agenda that reviews what was done in the past and finding ways of making the industry work.
“The most important thing is that he is talking about planning, from a holistic aviation development plan through the NCAA to an airport master plan through FAAN and other plans. I think he wants things to fall into order and the industry to be run in a professional manner to deliver 21st-century air transport services.
“He made a few tactical moves on his assumption of office, such as the relocation of all the airlines into the new terminal, which people thought would not work but succeeded in creating a better passenger experience.
“He is setting an international hub ambition for Murtala Mohammed International and intends to develop a world-class masterplan to deliver this objective, drawing in more international airlines. This is the right direction.”
Idu however suggested that tactical issues must be addressed now from the operational point of view, adding, “He is aggressively assessing and addressing them.”
