Travel News

BY  Uko Etim

Over 300,000 passengers have been airlifted by Ibom Airlines Limited since its inception last year, the Group Manager, Marketing and Communications of the Airline, Mrs. Aniekan Essienette has said.

The airline also said it has contributed more than one billion naira directly and indirectly to the economy of Akwa Ibom people through vendors and suppliers within the period.

 
Essienette disclosed to Correspondents in Uyo on Tuesday that the airline would continue to play its role as  a key vehicle for the economic development and growth of Akwa Ibom state. 

According to him, the 300,000 passengers included the COVID-19 lockdown period when there were no flights for more than four months.

 
“We want to be to Akwa Ibom state, what Emirates Airlines is to Dubai and what Ethiopian Airlines is to Ethiopia. I believe we can achieve this with your continued support and those of the good people of Akwa Ibom state.

“In line with this aspiration, just in 2019 alone (our first year of operation), Ibom Air’s direct and indirect impact on Akwa Ibom’s livelihood and businesses amounted to over One Billion Naira.

” This is in addition to the employment of indigenes of Akwa Ibom not just in low and entry level to senior positions, but in the very highly skilled aviation professions of Piloting, Cabin Crew and Aircraft Maintenance Engineering.

 
” As a matter of fact, 17 young indigenous trainee maintenance engineers have qualified or are on the verge of being qualified as Bombardier CRJ 900 Aircraft Engineers.” She stated.

She said Ibom Air has within a short time become a model brand in the aviation industry and would build on recent successes to improve and expand.

“Since the 7th of June 2019 when Ibom Air commenced operations as a bold new idea with 3 Aircraft, now you can say that we are the “new kid on the block” and the whole nation has stood up and taken notice of what we have brought to the table.

 
“18 months down the line, Ibom Air currently boasts a fleet of five bombardier CRJ 900 aircraft (the youngest airline fleet in the country) and currently covers 5 destinations: Uyo, Lagos, Abuja, Calabar and Enugu, with an unmatched record of schedule reliability and on-time departure perfromance.

“In 2021, we shall be expanding to other routes which we would announce in due course.” Essienette said.

She said that the Airline, 100% owned by Akwa Ibom State  government currently has 200 staff including indegenes in its employ and plan to employ more as they expand.

Also responding to some questions, Director of Airline Services Ms Amaka Echetabu said that percieved delays in take off  of flights were due to factors outside their control but insisted that the company would  not compromise on safety.

Echetabu said the Airline’s trusted maintenance team has continued to conduct in-house maintenance as there has been no need for outside maintenance and would continue to train indegenes too to take over the maintenance of the aircrafts.

The Director said that for now they would continue to concentrate on improving its domestic dominance while plans to go international would be strategic, and with larger  air crafts when plans are finalised.

Governor Bello Muhammad has directed the take-off operations of the Zamfara state international Cargo Airport by June next year.

Matawalle gave the order when he inspected the ongoing construction work at the airport on Wednesday.

The Governor, who expressed satisfaction with the progress of work at the site, assured that Aircraft will commence take-up by the middle of next year.

He directed the company handling the project to ensure that runway, all terminal sections commence operations before June next year, hoping that all Airport facilities and equipment will be on ground before the stipulated time.

The Governor also expressed delight with the construction of terminal building which has reached high level of progress and directed for the construction of access roads and other necessary facilities in good time.

The project which was initiated by the immediate past governor of Zamfara State, Mahmud Shinkafi, is projected to provide a nearby gateway to international markets for various high yields of agricultural products, including perishable varieties within a few hours of harvesting.

The idea was inspired by a similar airport in Dubai.

BY  Kayode Oyero

The British Government has introduced a points-based immigration system to attract the “brightest and the best” skilled workers from around the world.

UK Secretary of State for the Home Department, Priti Patel, announced this in a statement.

According to her, applications for the new skilled worker visa opened on December 1, 2020, and skilled workers can apply to work in the UK from January 1, 2021.

Patel, in the statement titled, ‘Points-based immigration system opens’, explained that “those who have an exceptional talent or show exceptional promise in the fields of engineering, science, tech or culture” have a greater chance in the points-based immigration system.

The statement read, “Under the points-based immigration system, points will be awarded for a job offer at the appropriate skill level, knowledge of English and being paid a minimum salary. Skilled worker visas will be awarded to those who gain enough points.

“The new immigration rules will ensure that businesses can recruit the most highly qualified from across the globe to drive the economy forwards and keep the UK at the frontier of innovation.”The statement further read, “People will normally need to be paid at least £25,600 per year unless the ‘going rate’ for that job is higher.

“Applications are made online, and as part of this, people will need to prove their identity and provide their documents.

“Once someone outside the UK has gone through all these steps, they will usually get a decision within 3 weeks.

“They will need to have enough money to pay the application fee (ranging from £610 to £1,408), the healthcare surcharge (usually £624 per year) and be able to support themselves (usually by having at least £1,270 available). The visa lasts for up to 5 years before it needs to be extended.”

Canada, one of the top destinations of Nigerians looking for greener pasture, achieved the status after the North American country introduced a points-based immigration system that offers migrants permanent residency.

BY  Yen Nee Lee

KEY POINTS

• Singapore and Hong Kong have delayed the start of their bilateral “travel bubble” beyond 2020, authorities from both cities said on Tuesday.
• Both sides said they will review the arrangement again in late December to decide on a start date.

A closed departure hall at Hong Kong International Airport terminal. Miguel Candela | SOPA Images | LightRocket via Getty Images

SINGAPORE — Singapore and Hong Kong have delayed the start of their bilateral “travel bubble” again — deferring the plan beyond 2020, authorities from both cities said on Tuesday.

The latest postponement followed an earlier decision to push back the launch of the air travel bubble by two weeks, after Hong Kong reported a resurgence in new Covid-19 cases. Inaugural flights under the arrangement — which initially allowed travelers to skip quarantine — were supposed to start on Nov. 22.

“Singapore and Hong Kong have further reviewed the COVID-19 situation in Hong Kong, and given that local unlinked cases are still high, both parties have decided to defer the commencement of the Singapore – Hong Kong Air Travel Bubble (ATB) to beyond December 2020,” the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) said in a statement.

Both the Singapore aviation authority and the Hong Kong government said they will review the arrangement again in late December to decide on a new start date.

Since the first postponement of the travel bubble, new Covid-19 infections in Hong Kong have continued to climb. The city reported 76 additional cases on Monday — taking its cumulative infections since the outbreak to 6,315, official data showed.

Meanwhile, Singapore appears to have kept its domestic outbreak under control, reporting mostly imported cases in the last few weeks. Cumulative cases in the city reached 58,218 on Monday, data by its health ministry showed.

The Singapore-Hong Kong travel bubble was first announced in October as the two major Asian business hubs sought to repair some of the economic damage that the coronavirus pandemic inflicted on their tourism and aviation industries.

Both cities do not have domestic air travel markets, and their tourism and aviation industries are heavily reliant on international travel. Last year, Hong Kong recorded more than 453,000 visitor arrivals from Singapore, while Singapore received 489,000 visitors from Hong Kong, according to official statistics from both sides.

The bilateral travel bubble won’t bring back as many visitors, but Singapore’s Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung had hailed the arrangement as a “first of its kind” that could go some way in reinstating international travel.

— CNBC’s Karen Gilchrist contributed to this report.

BY  Joseph Olaoluwa

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority has issued an advisory circular to pilots and airline operators, regarding the severe dust haze and fog phenomenon prevalent in Nigerian airports. The statement signed by the Director-General, NCAA, Capt. Musa Nuhu, on Tuesday, explained that an adverse weather condition was expected to subsist from October in the far North; November over the North Central; and December over the Southern part of the country.

It also noted that early morning fog may also be experienced in the months ahead, especially along the coastal areas in the South.

The statement tasked pilots, operators and air traffic controllers to comply with the advisory, granting traffic controllers the right to close the airspace especially when heavy fog or severe dust haze was observed.

Part of the statement read, “Air traffic controllers may temporarily close airspace when hazardous weather conditions such as heavy fog or severe dust haze reducing the visibility to below airport operating minimal are observed or forecasted by Nimet.

“Pilots/flight crew members shall obtain adequate departure, en-route and destination weather information and briefing from Nimet Aerodrome offices prior to flight operations.

“Pilots shall exercise maximum restraint whenever adverse weather is observed or forecast by NIMET and brief passengers accordingly.”

It also urged the travelling public to be patient and understanding in the yuletide month as flights may be delayed or cancelled on account of weather situations.

DALLAS — American Airlines is taking its long-grounded Boeing 737 Max jets out of storage, updating key flight-control software, and flying the planes in preparation for the first flights with paying passengers later this month.

The airline invited press reporters and photographers on board one of the planes Wednesday to demonstrate its confidence in the plane's safety.

All Max jets worldwide were grounded in March 2019 after the second of two crashes that together killed 346 people. Last month, the Federal Aviation Administration approved changes — mainly in flight-control software — that will allow airlines to resume flying the plane.

American planned to explain Wednesday the steps it has taken to bring the planes out of storage and make the FAA-required changes.

American is likely to be the first carrier to put passengers on Max jets, beginning Dec. 29 with once-a-day round trips between New York and Miami. In the meantime, the airline has been flying the plane with employees on board and, now, reporters and photographers.

Some relatives of people who died in the crashes — and who still believe the plane is unsafe — expressed outrage at both Boeing and American over what they termed a publicity stunt.

Zipporah Kuria, a British citizen whose father died in the second Max crash, said Boeing and the FAA should instead turn over documents on changes made to fix the plane and how they were tested. The company has withheld the documents, saying they cover trade secrets.

“I feel like Boeing is using the press to leverage public trust instead of actually genuinely earning public trust,” she said. “I'm really disgusted by the whole thing and the fact that American Airlines would pay for that. Their focus is more about the profit and corporate interest than it is about consumer safety.”

Some people who lost family members believe that the FAA erred by not accepting all the recommendations made by pilots and aviation professionals during a public comment period on its proposal to let the plane fly again.

Scrutiny of the plane has focused on a flight-control system called MCAS, which repeatedly pushed down the nose of the plane before both crashes. Boeing, which describes changes to the plane on its website , and the FAA say the system has been made less powerful and easier for pilots to override.

Some of the family members, however, wanted a deeper, nose-to-tail review of the plane. And they don't trust Boeing or the FAA, which allowed the plane to keep flying after the first crash, in Indonesia in 2018.

“It hasn't been evaluated to the point where we can say that it's safe,” said Nadia Milleron, whose daughter was killed in the second crash, which occurred in Ethiopia. “This plane hasn't flown very much with this new software, the revamped MCAS, interfacing with the plane. It's not responsible for them to put you on this flight.”

Boeing said Wednesday it has flown more than 1,400 test flights on updated Max planes. The FAA said its people put in 60,000 hours reviewing and testing Boeing's work.

It's unclear whether the flying public will accept the plane or avoid it. Some industry officials believe that fear of getting on the plane has lessened with time. American says that if customers don't want to fly on a Max, it will have the flexibility to put them on other planes.

BERLIN (Reuters) - Lufthansa recorded a big jump in bookings for long-haul and European flights over the Christmas and New Year holiday period and is increasing capacity accordingly, the German airline said.

Like most airlines, Lufthansa has been hard hit by the collapse in travel due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has led to the German government imposing a 10-day quarantine on citizens returning from countries with high infection rates.

Nevertheless, Lufthansa said in a statement that it saw up to 400% more bookings last week compared to the previous week, with destinations like South Africa, Namibia, the Canary Islands, Madeira, and northern Finland proving popular.

The airline said it was responding by adding more flights, including to the Canary Islands from Frankfurt and Munich, as well as resuming flights to Seville and Palermo.

Reporting by Emma Thomasson; Editing by Caroline Copley

Dubai (AFP)

The United Arab Emirates launched tourist visas for Israeli citizens on Thursday, official media said, in the latest move following the normalisation of ties between the two countries.

Abu Dhabi's foreign ministry "announced the activation of tourist entry visas through airlines and travel and tourism offices for Israeli passport holders", the WAM news agency reported.

The measure is a stop-gap until a mutual visa waiver agreement is put in place meaning Israelis visiting the UAE will be eligible for visas on arrival. The same will apply to Emiratis visiting the Jewish state.

"The move falls within bilateral cooperation between the UAE and the State of Israel following the signing of the Abraham Accords and aims to facilitate travel to the UAE for the time being," the report added.

With their economies hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic, the UAE and Israel are hoping for rapid dividends from the US-brokered normalisation deal signed in September.

They have already signed treaties on direct flights and visa-free travel, along with accords on investment protection, science and technology.

The UAE was only the third Arab country to normalise ties with Israel following Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994.

However, its move was quickly followed by Bahrain and in October Sudan also announced it would normalise relations with Israel.

The agreements, which have been roundly condemned by the Palestinians, break with years of Arab League policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The consensus had been that there should be no relations with Israel until it makes peace with the Palestinians.

The new tourist visa scheme will be implemented in the first quarter of this year

BY AARTI NAGRAJ

The UAE has announced plans to issue five-year multi-entry tourist visas for all nationalities visiting the country.

The decision was made during the UAE Cabinet’s first meeting in 2020, which was chaired by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai.

The move comes in a bid to support the UAE’s tourism economy and will be implemented in the first quarter of this year, a statement said.

Details about the fee structure for the new visas have not yet been disclosed.

Currently, the UAE welcomes about 21 million visitors each year and offers tourists a multiple entry visa for up to 90 days.

Another key decision made during the cabinet meeting was the introduction of a visa waiver for Mexican citizens travelling to the UAE.

The move will facilitate the entry, exit and passage for nationals of both countries without the need to apply for a visa, the statement said.

It will “improve existing bilateral relations with other countries” through enhancing collaboration in the tourism, economic and investment fields.

The decision will also open up new prospects for UAE passport holders in tourism, investment and commerce and will facilitate their movements between the two countries, the statement added.

The waiver, first announced in October 2018, will be implemented in the first quarter of 2020.

The move comes even as Dubai airline started flights to Mexico City via Barcelona late last year.

Sheikh Mohammed emphasised that 2019 was a year of achievements, and said preparations were underway for 2020.

“We want 2020 to be a year of development, growth and competition with leading countries in economy, competitiveness and wellbeing,” he said.

“We do not want our achievements to be limited to one segment of society. We want them to be diversified to touch the lives of seniors, children and people of determination, both for UAE nationals and residents, students and employees, entrepreneurs and investors, alike.”

He also stressed that the UAE was gearing up for the next 50 years.

“The preparation for the next 50 years is a challenge we accept along with our federal teams. We are confident that these teams are up for the challenge and able to create a positive change in the lives of our citizens and to achieve the objectives of the agenda 2021,” he said.

“The year 2020 leaves behind 50 years of achievements, and welcomes 50 years of perseverance and hard work in the service of the nation and its citizens,” he added.

•FAAN inspects airports

At least three local airlines have shown signs of early recovery from COVID-19 lockdown, with the reopening of closed routes and additional frequencies on traditional routes.

As of yesterday, airlines like Dana Air, Air Peace and Arik Air had received an additional capacity to expand operations across the local network.The development, industry analysts said, suggested a marginal rebound in passenger traffic and an imminent relief for the beleaguered industry.

In a related development, the management of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) yesterday, commenced a 10-day facility tour of the country’s 23 airports.

The tour is aimed at assessing the infrastructural needs of the airports while evaluating their preparations for the yearly surge in passenger traffic during yuletide as well as the level of compliance with COVID-19 protocols at the airports.

Recall that the local airlines resumed commercial flight operations in July after three months of COVID-19-induced lockdown. But weeks after resumption, air travel patronage has remained all-time low, with traffic ranging between 15 and 30 per cent.

To shore up customers’ demand, airlines are pushing connectivity beyond the Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt routes. Dana Air lately announced that it would increase flights from Lagos to Port Harcourt, Enugu and Owerri from December 7, 2020

Media and Communications Manager of the airline, Kingsley Ezenwa, said Dana Air would introduce additional flights “as part of our preparations to provide our guests amazing options with schedule reliability, consistency, on-time departures, and efficient services this yuletide.”

Similarly, Air Peace airline also disclosed plans to commence flight operations into Makurdi, Benue State Capital, from Lagos and Abuja on December 7, 2020. This is as the airline is also billed to resume flights to Uyo from Lagos and Abuja on the said date.

The airline’s spokesperson, Stanley Olisa, disclosed that Makurdi had been on the airline’s radar for some time and that it is being launched to meet the air travel needs of Nigerians who connect Lagos and Abuja to Makurdi and the other way round.

“We promise to interconnect every part of this country and foster economic relations between cities. Be assured that we are coming with more destinations. We are starting Johannesburg in December and India is in the offing,” Olisa said.

Arik Air, on its part, has leased a Boeing 737-700 aircraft from Eznis Airways to boost its operations. The aircraft arrived in Nigeria on November 21, 2020.

The leased aircraft, which will be deployed into service from yesterday, will enable Arik Air to return to some routes, which were suspended in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Chief Executive Officer of Arik Air, Captain Roy Ilegbodu, said the aircraft would boost the carrier’s fleet in readiness for the yuletide season.

Aviation expert and Chairman of the Airlines Joint Passenger Committee of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Bankole Bernard, said the marginal improvement in frequencies was expected with the festive season coming and more foreign airlines now operating direct flights in and out of the country.

Bernard foresaw more increase in traffic in the days ahead. “More activity is expected to pick up by next year, especially with the reported discovery of COVID vaccines. In fairness, we, in Nigeria, are not doing too badly, compared to other parts of Africa. In terms of recovery, we are 29 per cent ahead of others. With more airlines coming now, I expect that we should be hitting 75 per cent traffic by February or March next year,” Bernard said.