The lack of voice to speak on matters relating to aircraft maintenance and to protect investors in Aircraft Maintenance and Overhaul (MRO) has led to the formation of a new association in the aviation industry known as the Association of Aircraft Maintenance Organization of Nigeria (AAMON).
AAMON is a body of all aircraft Maintenance organizations in Nigeria comprising Fix Base Operators, Maintenance Repair Overhaul (MROs) organizations and all those involved in the maintenance of aircraft in the country.
Chairman of AAMON, Engr. Isaac David Balami, said the new association would help protect the interest of members and to demand support of government and stakeholders so as to grow the business of aircraft maintenance and reduce capital flight from the country, provide employment, grow aviation technology which will lead to the manufacture of aircraft spares and eventually, manufacturing of whole aircraft.
Announcing the birth of the new group, Balami, who is also the Accountable Manager of 7 Star Global Hangar Limited, a start-up MRO facility in Nigeria, lamented that the total cost of aircraft maintenance in West Africa is over $1 billion annually.
He said Nigeria had the highest number of aircraft ferried overseas for maintenance and therefore expended about 75 per cent of the said amount.
“Indeed, Nigeria is not alone in the critical infrastructure deficit. He further stated that none of the West African countries has a MRO, conceding the MRO hubs to Johannesburg, Nairobi and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – all of which have national carriers that are dependent on Nigerian market for traffic”.
The dominant MRO players on the continent according to him can be divided into African and non-African operators. Local MRO providers include South African Airways Technical (SAAT), Ethiopian Airlines Maintenance and Engineering, Kenya Airways Technical, Air Algerie Technics and Tunisair Technics.
Non-African operators include Air France Industries KLM Engineering & Maintenance (AFI KLM E&M), Direct Maintenance and Sabena Technics. He listed other joint ventures such as Air France Industries’ and Royal Air Maroc’s Aerotechnic Industries.
He noted that over the decades, the aviation sub-sector in Nigeria had suffered because of its inability to establish proper Maintenance Repair and Overhaul facilities, a crucial infrastructure that ensures that the airline aspect of the business maintains a balance in its cost-intensity, stressing that With the emergence of new MROs in the country it is logical to look at areas of synergy to grow the budding market.
“When you talk about Nigerian airlines you are talking about West Africa because Nigeria is actually West Africa, whether you like it or not; and across the sub-region, over $1 billion is spent annually on aircraft maintenance and that is a fact. Nigeria contributes about 75 per cent of this expenditure.
“That is a huge capital flight. Those of us that are in the sector and in MRO business, feel frustrated about it.
“This is obviously a serious blow to Nigeria’s economy because I think that if the Aviation Ministry has $1 billion, you can imagine what they will do with it. So the point is that we must stop that leakage. It is not a matter of let’s try; we have to stop it. The private sector has to be involved because government cannot do it alone.
“Yes, there is 100 per cent interrelationship between cost of airline failure and cost of maintenance overseas. Asides aviation fuel, maintenance is the second biggest cost for Nigerian airlines and it is affecting our airlines badly.
