Nigeria’s safety record pushes premium on aircraft to $150k

• Down from $800k

• NASS committees want more funding for aviation

Nigeria’s high safety record in the aviation sector ramped up in the last few years has seen it benefiting in lower insurance as premium paid in the country on wide body aircraft has gone down from $800,000 a year to between $150,000 and $200,000.

Akin Olateru, commissioner, Accident Investigation Bureau, informed legislators of the National Assembly (NASS) recently that the drastic reduction in aircraft accidents in the country has brought down the insurance premiums paid on operating aeroplanes in Nigeria.

The disclosure followed calls by the NASS on the need for adequate funding of the sector to enable it cope with the increase in demands for air travel.

The two chairmen of the committees of Senate and House of Representatives, Abiodun Olujimi and Nnolim Nnaji made the observation during an oversight working visit to the Accident Investigation Bureau, (AIB) and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA).

They observed enormous pressures on the existing aviation infrastructure which require that more investments should be made in the sector.

Both chairmen specifically pledged to look into the alleged exclusion of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, (NAMA) in the 2023 Federal Budget to see what could be done to redress it.

Mathew Pwajok, managing director, NAMA, expressed appreciation of the committees of both chambers of the National Assembly for their interest and concerns on matters affecting the aviation industry.

He acknowledged their swift passage of the six Executive Bills on the industry as a true reflection of their commitment to the progress of the air transport sector in the country.

At the AIB, the members of the joint committees were impressed with the progress so far made in the upgrade of facilities and manpower at the bureau which has led to the reduction of accidents in the country to the barest minimum.

Nnaji, the House committee chairman, stressed that members were impressed that for the past seven years now, the country had not recorded any fatalities apart from the helicopter accident which occurred at Opebi in Lagos early 2022.