Ibom Air Livery- A brand on a meteoric rise to fame and success
COLLABORATION AND COOPERATION
Airline Startups in the African continent have been advised to be weary of cutthroat competition with the bigger, multinationals and legacy airlines of this world as the consequence more often is the increase of mortality of those startups as fierce competition may wipe off creative instincts, and inhibit meticulous pursuit of result oriented plans due to avoidable distractions.
Hence, Ibom Airlines is not in competition with any airline be it in the domestic space, regional or international air space rather, Ibom Air is open to collaboration, and cooperation with any airline that satisfies the conditionality precedent for which the partnership would thrive.
The Executive Director/Chief Operating Officer, ED/COO, Ibom Airline, Mr. George Uriesi, made these known at the February edition of the African Airlines Association’s monthly broadcast dubbed, “AFRAA Connect”, which came up Wednesday, 7th February 2024.
Uriesi while fielding questions on the program anchored by the Secretary General of AFRAA, Mr. Abderahmane Berthe, Uriesi said Ibom Air is not in competition with any airline be it in the domestic terrain in Nigeria, nor will it get into competition at the regional or continental level with any airline, but it is rather open to providing support, collaboration, and enter commercial agreements, and cooperate in any aspect of the operations value chain- maintenance, etc,- that the airline’s management may find desirable and profitable to embark upon.
He described it as very fierce, competition among the nine (9) operating airlines in Nigeria jostling for a higher chunk of the 14 million passengers to become their loyal customers yet, Ibom Air will not abandon its business plan to give a fight to any competitor nor to unduly jump into any competition but will rather stick to its well thought out business plan.
George Uriesi, a veteran of over three decades in the air transport subsector of the national economy said that rather than compete with the bigger airlines, like the legacy carriers, Ibom Air will always be glad to assist these airlines than to compete and will be willing to collaborate when it is auspicious, with the bigger airlines, from Europe, US, the Gulf airlines nay all the legacy airlines of this world, he said.
CHOICE OF EQUIPMENT AND MAINTENANCE
Uriesi cited the choice of equipment presently in use by Ibom Air- a mixture of CRJ and Airbus- as the machines for the moment but the airline as a policy would settle exclusively for the Airbus. He said the equipment suits the needs of the airline’s operations on all fronts including maintenance.
As proof of Ibom Air’s commitment to the A220 and A300 series, a Maintenance Repairs and Overhaul, MRO hangar, Uriesi said, is at an advanced stage of construction under the supervision of the Airbus engineering crew.
He said because of the extent of coverage the airline shall be put to use, the maintenance hangar being built would be subjected to certification, not from the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA alone, but from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, EASA, and the Federal Aviation Administration, FAA, of the United States. In that case, airlines from Europe and the US could opt to do their aircraft maintenance here, in Uyo.
Mr. Uriesi, also a certified coach and mentor, pointed to the MRO as another result of collaboration with Airbus whose technical crew is the arrowhead in the construction and equipping the hangar of critical tools in making nearly all checks and maintenance doable at the ultra-modern facility.
George Uriesi however emphasized that proper thoughts on maintenance are very crucial for an airline before it could boast of any marginal profit in its operations as maintenance is the albatross with the capacity to drain without much ado, whatever earnings an airline might be happy it had made over time.
SAATM EFFECTIVENESS
Asked if Nigerian airlines placed a premium on the Single African Air Transport Market, SAATM, Uriesi commended the initiative and said SAATM should be explored to improve access as there should not be any hindrance for any African airline to fly into any African city.
Uriesi however told the anchor and viewers who hook up to the program that, most nations in Africa often create stumbling blocks thus making access by both the airlines and the passengers very challenging.
He however noted with dismay that most African countries that had benefited, unhindered access to the Nigerian market, and even enjoyed multiple destinations in Nigeria, often failed to reciprocate a similar gesture when Nigerian airlines applied for access.
The Ibom Air COO called on the African heads of government to revisit the reciprocity principle with the view to eliminate all forms of barriers to African airlines in accessing various destinations, and cities within the African continent.
Another encumbrance to African airlines right from their inception Uriesi identified as unfavorable deals right at the purchase/lease of the equipment. He said the deals are often skewed against the success of African airline startups.
The Ibom Air helmsman cited instances when the insurance premium paid by some Nigerian carriers on one aircraft was the equivalent of what is paid as a premium in Europe and the USA for about three aircraft of the same capacity and brand.
He said such unfavorable conditions precedent to a startup’s operations is a disadvantage, a headwind, often ingrained into the airlines’ portfolio as a burden, when just barely starting to caress the sky while scouting for the right altitude to enjoy a tailwind to achieve safe and profitable operations.
Another challenge Uriesi identified is in the dollarization of the majority of costs incurred in aviation as against the local currencies which are often very weak in exchange to the USD. He noted that such condition abinitio would have pitched the airline at a disadvantage level.
Hence, he advised that maintenance also deserves careful consideration because each major check flown abroad to conduct, often wipes out whatever earnings the airline might have made over time. This, Uriesi said, informed the state-of-the-art Maintenance Repairs and Overhaul, MRO, hangar being built at Uyo.
THORN IN THE FLESH OF AIRLINES
Another thorn in the flesh of airlines is the terrific mobility of a critical set of professionals crucial to the successful operations of any airline- Pilots and Aircraft Maintenance Engineers.
The Ibom Air COO said the mobility of this group of professionals is nauseating. He said the fact that those skills are without borders, has made those personnel become a “fleeting illusion to be pursued” (apologies to the reggae legend, Robert Nesta Marley, aka Bob Marley of blessed memory} but hard to retain.
He said the huge investment often made in this class of personnel with the view to achieving some form of stability in the organization’s workforce is more than often brought into jeopardy by their arbitrary mobility
The rationale for the high mobility of pilots and engineers he observed was instigated by overseas organizations just wriggling out from the blows from Covid-19 pandemic unleashed, especially on aviation. Hence those startups in Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and the US, and the big ones rejigging their operations are desperate for skilled manpower who are young. Moreover, this class of personnel found earnings in dollars very attractive hence, retaining them becomes a clear and present danger test.
AIRPORT HUB
Ibom Air Chief Operating Officer, COO, George Uriesi, who also was a former Managing Director/Chief Executive of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, perhaps at the darkest period of that agency a few years ago, noted that grossly lacking in Nigeria is AIRPORT HUB in the strict sense of the word.
He however noted that the identified lacuna in those airports was wrongly touted as hubs, the Uyo airport is being built on purpose to close the gap. Uriesi noted few airports are being touted as hubs but they are lacking in critical airport hub infrastructure that makes an airport qualified as a “hub airport” he said.
Uriesi who had been in airport management for onward of over two decades from South Africa to Lagos and now to Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, said the critical airport hub infrastructure not available to date, is all being provided in the Uyo International Airport soon to be completed, and commissioned.
He explained that as a hub airport, apart from domestic service, the new airport will also offer regional and international flights, with a standard hospitality element in place. All these he said have already been factored into the Uyo Airport construction. He said this infrastructure would make Nigeria and Nigerians to be proud to point to one purpose-built hub airport in Nigeria.
The Ibom Air Chieftain made a fervent appeal to both the state and federal governments to hand off the day-to-day running of airports. Uriesi urged them, especially the state governments to relinquish management of their respective airports to competent facility managers who will continuously be adding value to the facility and offer good returns to the lessor.
He cited the green field airport under construction at Kigali in Rwanda, as a testament of what should be replicated in the entire African continent, especially in Nigeria.
IBOM AIR EXPANSION AND SUCCESSION ENVISAGE
Mr. George Uriesi announced that of the ten (10) Airbus aircraft ordered in October 2021, the airline had taken delivery of one which will be put to service and the two wet-leased aircraft will be returned to the lessor.
He added that before the completion of delivery of the nine (9) remaining aircraft, more orders would be made as the testing of the aircraft’s dependability on regional operations has begun with scheduled operations to Accra, Ghana.
He added that the airline’s management had decided against a heterogeneous fleet hence, the airline has settled for the A220-300 series. He added that wide-body aircraft will be appreciated but it’s not on its priority list for now. He said the airline fleet expansion is being patterned after that of the structure in use by United Airlines of the United States.
He said only a few, and on rare circumstances would warrant the adulteration of brands in the airline’s fleet. The Airbus he commended as being highly fuel efficient- 25% better in fuel efficiency than others- and reasonable maintenance cost that one will not need to break into a bank before maintenance can be done.
On personnel retention to make for stability in the airline’s succession plan, the airline’s COO enthused that, the crème de la crème of the team that birthed the airline is still very much intact five years down the line. He expressed the wish for subsequent Chief Executive Officers of the airline to emerge among the crops of its in-house managers that would be promoted to director level and ultimately one among the directors should emerge as CEO. He yearned to replicate the pattern of succession that obtains with Ethiopian Airlines, and Qantas, among others, to be cultivated in Ibom Air.
The AFRAA Connect guest for February 2024, Mr. George Uriesi, said in the next five (5) years he would want Ibom Air to be far more distinguished with its niche service, to have moved from startup to consolidating and by the next five years thereafter, to have attained a level which will be generally seen with facts and figures, to be a successful airline.
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