Local and foreign insurance practitioners have advised that all the domestic airlines should be grounded and re-licensed if the on-going reform of the aviation industry must achieve the desired result in ensuring safety of passengers, following the recent air disasters in recent times.
Chief John Akin-George, Chairman of Africa Insurance Brokers Association (AIBA) said it was not enough to approve money for the reform of the aviation sector but to ground all the airlines and re-license those that meet AITA standards.
According to him, �The issue is not grounding the airline company by the government, after it has wasted human and material resources, and causing the future of the relatives of some victims much worry.
The recent crash of an aircraft belonging to Aviation Development Company (ADC) , occurred on October 29, 2006, killing about 96 people.The aircraft of Nigerian airline Aviation Development Corporation, ADC, was built in 1983.
Chief Akin-George proffered critical inspection of all aircrafts by the aviation regulatory agencies because most of the aircrafts are outdated and had outlived their usefulness. The government should ensure rehabilitation of aircrafts to ensure the safety of lives of Nigerians, he added.
��l do not totally agree that they should all be grounded and relicenced though it is only for a short period that passengers would suffer for it. It would be a great inconvenience to Nigerians if all the airlines are grounded because we are used to traveling by air and it would be a great inconvenience to all of us.
The Federal Government at the weekend suspended the operating licences of four airlines-Sosoliso Airlines, Fresh Airlines, Space World and Nicon Airways-in a determined bid to guarantee safety in the skies. This followed recent air mishaps which claimed several lives, including the Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence, Alhaji Muhammadu Maccido, two Senators and other prominent Nigerians who lost their lives in the ill-fated ADC plane which crashed in Abuja soon after it took off.
Mr. Peter King, CKRe, London strongly believes that all the domestic airlines in Nigeria should be grounded for effective reform of the sector, adding that any aircraft that is 0.1 per cent short of maintenance standard should not be allowed to fly.
He said, �every single operator has to be relicenced and every single plane has to be thoroughly investigated to find out its age and maintenance level.�
Peter King in an interview with Vanguard at the recent 12th Reinsurance forum in Tunisia said �I know that Nigeria government is just trying to tackle some of the problems in aviation. There is no doubt that the level of maintenance of those local airlines are questionable. There are lots of foreign people that would not travel with domestic Nigeria airline.�
He reiterated, �the government should ensure that these airplanes are properly maintain if an aeroplane is 0.1 per cent not maintained that 0.1 per cent could cause havoc.
�All the Nigeria aircrafts operators should be grounded and under no circumstances should the Nigeria government register a plane that is above 30 years old�.
Government should bring in external experts to inspect every single plane. I know that is going to be a lot of inconveniences on the passengers, it is not just a Nigeria problem alone but it has been too frequent in Nigeria in the last one year.
The new Civil Aviation Authority Act 2006, signed by Obasanjo on Tuesday, establishes flight safeguards, improves security checks, sets out ministerial powers during emergencies and defines offences that endanger safety as well as penalties for violation.