Furore over airport concession,privatisation

 Discontent is growing among players in the aviation sector over plans by the Federal Government to either concession or privatise some airports. Suspicion is rife among airline operators, union members and workers of aeronautical authorities over what model and scope the concession will take, KELVIN OSA OKUNBOR reports. DISCONTENT is growing in the sector over plans by the Federal Government to concession or privatise the international airports. Stakeholders, including airline operators, unions and workers of aeronautical authorities, have accused the government of not making public the template for the proposed concession or privatisation of the terminals in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Kano. The allegation is based on speculations that the Ministry of Aviation may have concluded plans to hand over the juicy terminals to some Arabs managing airports in Turkey and some Middle East countries. Minister of State, Aviation, Hadi Sirika, has inaugurated a steering committee to prepare the handing over of the airports to prospective investors. Stakeholders are kicking against their non-inclusion in the committee, alleging that the minister might be acting a script. They said the government had to go the extra mile to make public the template to be used for the concession. The question many industry watchers are asking is: the number of airports for concession and what aspects of the airports to be concessioned without compromise to national security. Unions have vowed to mobilise against the proposal if the interests of their members were not protected. Sirika has, however, assured the unions that their members' interest would be protected. He said the workers would not lose their jobs, if they allowed the government to concession the airports to bring about efficiencies, create national wealth and prepare the ground for the airports to become hubs. Stakeholders forum in Lagos But as lofty as the plans may appear, industry watchers are suspicious that it is another attempt to pull the wool over their eyes. They believe there is more to the proposal than meets the eye. In Lagos last week, a private firm convoked a conference to examine the privatisation/concession of the airports. Sirika was absent at the event. The minister's absence, despite assurances of his attendance to the convener, Mr Michael Ckikeka, seemed to have confirmed the suspicion of players over the insincerity of the exercise. Head, Research and Stratety, Zenith Travels, Mr Olumide Onunayo, urged Sirika to convene a stakeholders' conference that would draft a National Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP) to address issues related to airports concession. He said concessioning airports in Nigeria was premature, and if the government had to concession the airports, the terminals should be handled as a chain. Onunayo said: "On the concession of choice airports, there are fears because of Nigeria's perculiar environment. It may have worked in the United Kingdom(UK). The UK's privatisation worked well, because it is a mature political society, with experience of being a regulated environment for decades. "In less-developed countries, such as ours, governments should be tilting towards building and enhancing the transport system rather than just offloading the assets. This is to avoid a situation whereby we move from ugly state-owned airports to even uglier privately-owned airports. It is noteworthy that most reputable private sector investors would not consider buying an airport with fewer than one million passengers. "That is why airports have often been sold as a package - good and bad, small and large, domestic and international. In achieving the objective, the government should, as a first step, invite reputable international airport management companies, who will often achieve what governments can no longer take care of, improvements in capacity, efficiency and safety. "The private managers are internationally recognised airport operators with track records, who can be sourced and verified by a click of the mouse. They will act as advisors or management consultants to the government within a limited time frame; during this period, they will be given the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to manage, restructure and reposition," he added. He said this would strengthen and improve FAAN's corporate governance structure while our political environment would also mature to adapt to the inevitability of privatising the airports. "These airport management companies should be selected through an open and transparent process backed with international referral," Onunayo added. Airline operators' perspective Domestic airlines, which are expected to benefit from the proposed airports concession, have accused the government of not carrying them along. Chairman, Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), the umbrella body of domestic carriers, Captain Nogie Meggison, said operators were yet to be notified by the Ministry of Aviation of any plan to concession the airports. He said operators were yet to see either the framework for the concession. Meggison said the communication gap had cast doubt on the sincerity of the exercise, stating that stakeholders were confused about what aspects of the airports - landside or airside - are billed for concession. He said a clear picture should be presented on how the government intended to concession the airports. He said: "Are the airports to be concessioned or ruzn as public private partnership, a joint venture or build operate and transfer? How many are to be concessioned? For how many years? How much is the yearly fee to be paid to the government? "But, I believe Nigeria needs airports of standards to take its rightful place to become hub of Central and West Africa," Meggison added. Litigations over previous concession To restore investor confidence, experts said litigations over poorly-handled airport concessions needed to be critically looked into by the government. This, they said, has become imperative as no investor would be willing to do business on a battlefield. Former Director-General, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Dr Harold Demuren, insisted that if litigations on some concessions, public-private partnership or build, operate, transfer agreements were not addressed, the proposed airports concession would not work. According to him, the concession plan is good but the agreements have to be honoured in existing and future concessions. Demuren said: "When the government does not honour agreements, it destroys the sector and everything it has made. The concession plan is great but we can't continue to operate by cancelling agreements all the time, in fact, all issues, litigations or agreements should be reviewed before we talk about another one." He said if the government went ahead with the concession without resolving issues on previous ones, there would be a flurry of litigations. He urged the government to engage the unions, be honest about the issue and not renege on its promises to Nigerians. Private sector experience Meanwhile, operators of the only private airport terminal in Nigeria, Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL), has thrown their weight behind the proposed concession. Its Chief Executive Officer, Captain Jari Williams, said concession was the only solution to infrastructure deficit in the country. He, however, said aviation had not been spared in the wind of controversial concessions, which had either failed or were stalled by the government. "There are no two ways to save our almost-derelict airport terminals than concession,"he said. Sirika's defence of concession Sirika said there was no going back on the concession of airports, saying the concession would not only bring an excellent passenger experience but would turn the gateways around in one year. Sirika contended that the best way to attract passengers, investors and turn the airports into hubs was to concession them. Unions' perspective Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) President Comrade Benjamin Okewu said his colleagues were opposed to the exercise, especially the revenue-generating airports. The unions, he said, needed to be carried along to understand the intentions of the government.  

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