GROUND HANDLING COMPANIES LOSE 30% OF THEIR BUSINESS TO COVID-19
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Mr Basil Agboarumi, Managing Director/CEO, SAHCO PLC.
As the devastating effect of Covid-19 continues taking its toll on nearly every human endeavours globally, especially air transport, the ground handling arm in Nigeria is not exempted as over 30% of its arrays of businesses have so far been adversely affected.
Since both passenger and cargo airlines have all drastically reduced their frequencies while most industrial countries where most of the cargoes and passengers emanated from have either partially or totally shot their air space, ground handlers worldwide no doubt will slip into the dire strait and would demand being at their wits end to mitigate the harrowing effect of the deadly coronavirus on their balance sheet.
Be that as it may, the leading and wholly indigenous ground handling company in Nigeria, SAHCO PLC, has stepped up her game to ensure excellent and impeccable compliance to the hygiene standard of cleaning clients’ aircraft during her turnaround service to get the aircraft ready for its next flight, taking cognizance of coronavirus with the view to terminating its vestiges anywhere in the aircraft or on the ramp.
In a chat with the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Sahco, Mr Basil Agboarumi, the company had invested huge resources in educating all her personnel on proper kitting for their assigned tasks, and other precautionary measures to protect themselves and discharge their various duties in compliance to the recommended practice and to prevent being infected.
Mr Agboarumi, who is also a Public Relations guru, cited the available statistics as provided by Cable Network News, CNN, on the growth rate of 2.5% forecast that Nigeria would experience in 2020. But in less than a quarter of the year, available indices he said, had wiped out 5% of the proposed growth rate for 2020.
Herein he said, lies the threat posed by the coronavirus to businesses in 2020 as he went further to quantify that the 5% growth loss in Nigeria, occasioned by covid-19, would amount to N700billion taking out of the economy.
He said right from the office, both the staff and visitors are subjected to hand sanitizers of various dimensions to the very basics in staying hygienically clean.
He also said for those on the ramp, cargo, warehouse, and those cleaning the aircraft interior, they’re all armed with enough sanitizers for generous use in protecting themselves. While adequate antiseptic is used in making the aircraft it cleans to be virus free for the next flight.
On individuals, either as passenger or visitor to any of Sahco’s offices, the CEO revealed that body temperature readers have been deployed to ensure early detection of any infection, either bacteria or virus, in order to early start treatment even if there was any infection.
Basil advised everyone to pummel himself or herself in resisting the urge to after shaking hands use same hand or its fingers to scratch the eyes, nose, cheeks, or forehead. He urged everyone to quit the practice while the covid-19 is still raging.
He, however, said SAHCO was on standby for all its services be it Hajj, Umrah, as she will return to her full service immediately the vaccines touted to cure coronavirus is confirmed to be truthful to all its claims and the world continues to experience the freedom of movement of persons and the goods and cargos return to their frequent crossing the Atlantic oceans to their various destinations.
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