Muneer Bankole is the chief executive officer Medview Airline Limited, the only domestic carrier in Nigeria listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. In this interview with IFEOMA OKEKE, he speaks of the challenges facing the aviation sector and reasons why investors should be assured of their investments in the airline.
What are the challenges in the aviation sector that are affecting your operations directly?
The aviation industry is facing a lot of challenges and the government has a lot to do. If you go to the genesis of the challenges, you will discover that airlines pay the government agencies so many charges. We also have challenges with supply and price of aviation fuel.
Considering the Apapa traffic and condition of the road, the ripple effect is seen in our operations because fuel is not supplied on time. Today, we also do not have a Maintenance and Repair Overhaul (MRO) in place.
Aircraft at one time or the other will be due for checks. There are periodic checks, scheduled checks and maintenance and repairs. These things are mandatory. When you fly an aircraft for 200hours, you shut it down and do mandatory checks. C-checks are carried out every 18months. When this happens, those aircraft that have gone on checks will not be available. Sometimes two or three aircraft are affected and the airline may face some challenges. This will affect the cash flow.
Many air planes are not flying; meaning no fund come into the coffers of the airline. The challenges are such that when you do not get that money at the right time, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) always works with terms such as forward looking, future purchases, and on-the-spot purchases. The monies for these purchases are not handy because the money is coming from a local source. There are so many things that will affect cash flow. There are no issues with Medview Airline in particular. Rather Medview’s presence on the stock exchange market sends a message to the whole world. There are lots of stakeholders who have interest in the airline and monitor our activities.
How has your hajj operations fared this year in comparison with previous years?
There is no comparison with Medview airline. We are blessed with hajj. Medview got its name from the holiest place in the world, where all Muslims love to go and where the prophet himself was buried. Coming to hajj, we decided to carve a niche on our own and that is where we started.
I was in Maiduguri and Kaduna to experience the airlift of Muslims for the hajj. The hajj is for a short period with good investment coming out of it. Hajj operations have been our major business as 30percent of our inflow is from hajj operations. Hajj is in two phases. Phase one is the period when we take the people for hajj. This lasts between four to five weeks. After two weeks break, we have phase two, when we bring them back.
The new national carrier, Nigeria Air seems to have come to stay. Let’s hear your opinion on the airline.
It is too young to comment on an airline that is yet to kick off. We will wait and see. There are stages to setting up an airline. One of the things to identify is, who are those behind the scene? I wish them all the best and thank Hadi Sirika, the minister of aviation for bringing a new airline.
Some people think domestic airline operators are afraid of the new national carrier. How true is that?
I am not worried or afraid at all. The sky is wide enough for every one of us. We are almost 200million people in Nigeria, only five domestic airlines operate scheduled flights where we are supposed to be over 20.
We are not doing anything. People are scared to fly because the environment is not there. The only airport in the east that is viable is Owerri and Enugu airports. Where is the population? In the whole of South-South, we have Calabar and Akwa Ibom, in the whole of South-West, we have Ibadan, Ilorin and Akure. We are blessed in this country. The land scape in Maiduguri is bigger than some countries in the world. The properties are enough for us to survive on.
Do you think Nigeria benefits from opening up its skies to foreign airlines?
It is unfortunate for us as we open our doors to everyone. I was in Abuja and I saw AirFrance, Lufthansa, British Airways, Emirates and Ethiopian airline. Ethiopian airline operate in five airports. They are in Enugu, Abuja, Kano, Kaduna and Lagos. What else do we have? When the doors are wide open for external forces, what do the domestic carriers gain? A woman who decides to give birth to her baby in the market, what other privacy does she have? When you have opened the door, there is nothing there to sell to anyone.
We are not contesting anything. It is for the benefit of our people that they can access airports in Enugu, Kaduna, and Kano and get flights. However, the rampage of our airports by foreign airlines is not benefiting our economy and the domestic carriers.
What is the state of your aircraft which you took out for maintenance?
The aircraft are coming back. One is landing in very soon. The second one is done and the third one will be brought into the country a couple of days from now. We will also be having a new CRJ aircraft. We have a proverb in our culture which says ‘whatever you conceal has value.’ When you see the aircraft coming, you will know we are a trusted people.
When are your London and Dubai operations starting off again?
Our London operation is still in front and Dubai is not far away from us. We are stable in these stations. We have the licences. If we don’t have the routes and the certifications, we won’t be talking of the stations. We are in five international stations and one of them is in Jeddah. This is where you can see us operating in and out. We also do lesser hajj. So, this is a route that we do not play with. We have been there for 15years now. In the whole of this country, we are only two airlines approved by the president to carry out hajj operations. God bless the president for this. We are trusted and tested. When we started the hajj, 14 airlines were carrying out hajj but today, we are just two. The story behind our success is sincerity.
What assurances are you giving to your investors?
We have carried out two annual general meetings and we have declared dividends. Despite the challenges, we are able to tell them the books are open and we declared the first and second year. The first and second quarter results may look dull because of the aircraft challenges but from the window of the third quarter and towards the end of winter and Christmas, I know God will see us through.
