Posted by Sade Williams
Ground handling companies in Nigeria have been charged to ensure maximum cooperation in order to set the right prices on services rendered to airlines.
This call was made over the weekend in Lagos by Mr. Basil Agboarumi managing Director/CEO, Skyway Aviation Handling Company Plc {SAHCO) in his speech during the ‘A Night With Basil, programme organised by the League of Airport and Aviation Correspondents (LAAC).
Agboarumi, who was the first Public Relations Manager to be elevated as a substantive Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of a major aviation company in Nigeria, lamented that ground handlers are not adequately paid for the services rendered airlines.
He insisted that the ground handling companies cannot operate in isolation of the entire industry and called on the Federal Government to intervene in the charges paid by the airlines.
He also called on the government to grant the ground handling companies waivers on importation of equipment for operation, noting that if such regime could be granted the airlines, it was also pertinent for handlers to be given same privilege.
“This is the time I think we need cooperation in the industry. The ground handlers need to come together because we can’t be isolated from what is happening in the sector. What happens to an aspect of the industry, affects all since the general duty of us in our various segments of the industry is to see how passengers or goods can move from one point to the other.
“I am one person that believes strongly that ground handling in Nigeria is underpriced and for us to continue to get the kind of ground handling that we require, especially now that things are getting harder for everyone in terms of procurement of equipment, industry must be ready to take the right step for the right of ground handling that we expected.
“We have been talking to government and government has been so good to the airlines, but I think it’s high time the government looked at the side of the ground handling companies. We need waivers on procurement of equipment, just as the government has granted the airlines. Government should also look at how it can reduce our burdens.”
Agboarumi further lauded the leadership of LAAC for putting the event together for him, stressing that contribution of journalists to the development of the sector could not be over-emphasised.
Also present at the gathering were Mr. Sam Adurogboye and Mrs. Henrietta Yakubu, the General Manager Public Affairs of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority and General Manager, Corporate Communications of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), respectively, among several other players in the sector and beyond.
