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Chukwuerika Achum is a prominent figure in the aviation industry, a lifelong aviator, known for his entrepreneurial spirit, innovation, and exceptional leadership skills. He is the founder of Falcon Aerospace Limited, the brand owner of aviation services outfit, VivaJets; digital platforms; FlyPJX and CharterXE; business incubation outfit, The Adrenalina; and tech firm, Instig Labs. In this interview with IFEOMA OKEKE-KORIEOCHA, he speaks on Falcon’s acquisition of Air Operating Certificate, opportunities arising from this milestone and plans for expansion.
Congratulations on receiving the Air Operating Certificate (AOC). What does this achievement mean for Falcon’s operations, and how will it impact your services?
The AOC is the gold standard when it comes to air transport operations. There are different categories of AOCs. There is the scheduled, non-scheduled and cargo. And for us, the non-scheduled AOC was very key to our ambitions, which is to spread our wings across Africa. Africa has been talking about a Single African Air Transport Market, (SAATM). Out of 57 African countries, 34 have ratified that convention, which is called the Yamoussoukro decision. And for us, having an African AOC gives us unrestricted commercial rights into the 34 countries which have more or less ratified the Yamoussoukro decision. So it’s more strategic in line with our ambitions. And of course, if we continually talk about industrialising Africa, we have to talk about facilitating travel throughout Africa.
Can you walk us through the process of obtaining the AOC? What were some of the challenges you faced, and how did you overcome them?
I’ll start first of all by speaking about the process, which is a five-phase process. It’s expected that that process will be consummated in six months. But beyond whatever is on paper, the issue we had had in the past was an issue of standardisation, an issue of the authority more or less being transparent with the process.
But what we found during our own process was an authority that was very willing, ready, and able to support initial applicants like us. I mean, I won’t say Nigeria is there when it comes to ease of doing business. But what we found, especially when we interacted with the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, (NCAA) throughout the AOC process, was a Civil Aviation Authority that was very understanding, willing, able, and ready to facilitate the process. They saw it as a transaction rather than how it used to be in the past, where it seemed like the potential operator was begging to get the application. But from what I saw, the NCAA is seeing this as a transaction. And I was super excited. To be honest, as a business owner, that is what we want. Let’s kill the bureaucracy. Let’s try as much as possible to encourage businesses to thrive. That was the impression we got from day one when we started interactions with the NCAA.
How do you envision Falcon’s AOC contributing to the growth and development of Nigeria’s aviation industry?
So for us, there are numerous challenges in Nigeria, and there are numerous challenges in Africa. For us, we are already beginning to see our service as an export-based service. We’re exporting charter services throughout Africa. In this short span, we are already dominating on the West African continent. So I see business aviation as an enabler. Our business is hugely forex-denominated. We are seeing 80 percent of our revenues more or less as coming as natural effects. And this is what Nigeria needs. This is the whole cry for non-oil exports. We are seeing it in business aviation. Recently, we had a pick-up from Freetown to Abuja. All these revenue comes to us as natural foreign exchange, which more or less is what the government has been talking about in terms of diversifying the economy.
What opportunities do you see arising from this milestone, and how will Falcon capitalise on them?
We’re already doing that. We’re already in the market for debt financing. We want to purchase three more Challenger 604s. We want to have eight airplanes before the end of this year. Right now, we operate two. We are acquiring a third one soon. We should close the acquisition by next week. Before the end of this year, we want to have eight airplanes operating.
How will Falcon’s services differentiate from existing players in the market, and what unique value propositions will you offer to clients?
Transparency and integrity are important to us. For us, we are very sad to disappoint the customer. That has more or less shaped our philosophy when it comes to customer satisfaction or customer success.
I cannot tell you what our flights will be tomorrow because we service eccentric customers. We service customers who are, for lack of a better word, time poor. I believe that we are actually in the business of selling back time to our customers. We understand that clearly. That has shaped our sales and operational philosophy. When I say shaped, there is no way we can survive without excellence. It shows throughout our organisation. We think about potential problems for the customer and solve those problems before they even manifest.
Beyond all of that, one of our greatest assets is the fact that we’ve been able to attract the right people very early on. We’ve been very lucky with our hiring. We’ve attracted the very right people to the organisation. These people have brought an immense impact into the organisation. I can go on and on and say so many things. For me, I think the most important thing has been the people we have attracted into the organisation. They are actually our unique selling point.
With the AOC in place, what are Falcon’s plans for expansion within Nigeria and potentially beyond?
We’re in the market to raise $25 million for an extra three Challenger 604 airplanes, which is identical to the airplanes we operate right now. And I mean, before the end of this year, our ambition is to have eight airplanes operating under our call sign.
How will you balance growth with safety and regulatory compliance, and what strategies will you employ to maintain high standards?
So compliance and safety go together. We cannot even operate without these. I’ll give you an example. If you look through our management organisation, you will see that at the top end of our leadership, we have created a role, not just even as a strategic role, but by requirement of the regulator, we need to have not just have financial compliance role, but a quality assurance role, which serves as a key compliance officer for us. We cannot operate without having safety in mind. If you look through the spectrum of an AOC, the AOC has different parts, and you have those different parts having different obligations. You have the director of flight operations, the director of continuous airworthiness, you have the chief pilot; all of these independent people have different operational safety objectives. And in fact, it will surprise you that their letter of confirmation is not given by us, the organization, but it’s given by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority.
So we employ, negotiate with them, employ, but we still send them to the NCAA to interview and confirm, and then the NCAA issues them a letter of approval. So yes, they work for us, but technically, they work for the Civil Aviation Authority. So, going back to your question and to answer it honestly, there is a huge intersection between safety and economics. The safest airplane is an airplane you park in a hangar, but that airplane will not make money.
So you have to operate between those boundaries. You know, every time we fly, we have to make sure our risk assessments are on point and make sure we’re always operating within that curve, or that intersection.
Are there any new services or initiatives that Falcon plans to introduce, now that you have the AOC?
A lot, a lot, but I’m keeping it close to my chest. You’re going to see a lot from us. We are going to engage the industry on a continual basis. You’re going to see these kinds of events very frequently. And I mean, for us, it’s like competitive collaboration. We want to compete, but we want to collaborate as well.
How do you think the NCAA can support the growth of business aviation in Nigeria?
By making the regulation elastic, not breaking the rules but having an understanding face. I believe that the government is already doing that by employing people from the private sector or people who have performed in the private sector into the regulatory space. So now they understand the pain points of the operator. They can see where the operator is coming from and not necessarily breaking or bending the rules for the operator, but stretching or making that regulation elastic to ensure that, at least they can certify before they start regulating. I cannot regulate who I am not certifying. I think that is more or less how I see it.
