34 FlightCom Magazine
Airlines
Words: roy ezzeThe worry over poor aviation capability in West Africa continues, despite
the still largely untapped potential in the region. Leading the way is a large
proposed investment recently announced by a local Nigerian company,
Spring Fountain.
PARTNERSHIPS EMERGE FOR
West African airlines
S
PRING Fountain said it
signed a ‘working together
agreement’ with Boeing
for an investment of up
to US$20 billion over the
next 20 years to cover
aircraft leasing, MRO
(Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul), spares
logistics and supply, and aggregated services
solutions. The involvement of Boeing in the
investment would suggest strong prospects
for the proposed facilities.
Aircraft manufacturers, including
Boeing, Embraer, Bombardier and Airbus
have recently made urgent efforts to
get more operators for their aircraft in
Nigeria and West Africa. This despite not
having achieved many of the new orders
expected by optimistic analysts, because of
underlying challenges.
In the past two decades, apart from
Arik Air which has ordered 27 aircraft
(predominantly Boeings, with a sprinkling
of Airbusses and Bombardiers), and Asky
which uses Boeing aircraft from partner
Ethiopian, no noteworthy aircraft orders
have come from airlines in Nigeria or West
Africa. There is, therefore, little to justify
the setting up of large MROs by these
aircraft manufacturers or other investors.
The reluctance of major aircraft
manufacturers to commit to key facilities,
such as MROs, in the West Africa
region despite incessant calls by airlines,
governments and operators, casts doubt onthe practicability of the proposed Spring
Fountain venture. Aircraft manufacturers
have largely preferred to support West
Africa from their facilities in nearby regions,
such as Europe, Middle East, South Africa
and North Africa, rather than investing in
new multi-billion Dollar MRO centres. The
low level of aviation activities and overall
limited number of different aircraft types
in the region is a key concern. However,
airlines in West Africa incur huge costs in
ferrying their aircraft to other regions for
maintenance.
“This has been the case despiteovertures to Boeing, Airbus and others
to set up these facilities in West Africa,”
said an airline official based in Lagos,
Nigeria, whose airline operates a fleet
of nine regional aircraft. “The prospect
of addressing the aviation infrastructure
challenge in West Africa is still remote,” he
added. The proposed investment is already
faced with a notoriously difficult operating
environment, which hampers airline and
aviation development in the region.
Besides Central Africa, West Africa is
arguably Africa’s least developed aviation
region, in terms of aviation infrastructure:Executive Director, Spring
Fountain, Mrs Tokunbo Fagbemi
(centre) signed an agreement
with Boeing for an investment
of up to US$20 billion.