SAHCO MD Wants NCAA To Address IATA On High Cost Of Trainings, Multiple Audits

Managing Director Skyway Aviation Handling Company (SAHCO), Mr. Basi Agboarumi

The Managing Director Skyway Aviation Handling Company (SAHCO), Mr. Basi Agboarumi has expressed his dissatisfaction on the high cost of trainings and multiple audits offered to the company by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) which has overburdened the company’s finances.

In pursuant to this strain on their finances, the MD called on the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to have a quick look on IATA and address the high cost of trainings which use to be cheaper than what it is now.

Agboarumi highlighted these challenges while delivering his paper titled “The Challenges of Providing Handling Services in a Developing Air Transport Market” at the just concluded Airport Business Summit and Expo Africa, ABSE 2019 for stakeholders in the industries.

Other challenges highlighted were high cost of equipment, multiple taxation and inadequate airport facilities, delayed payment by clients, multiple Audits, flight cancellations and underpayment for services.

According to Mr. Agboarumi Nigeria as a developing country has more of regional and local than global challenges, there were challenges that were peculiar to Nigeria as a developing country while the same cannot be said of a developed country with well-structured system.

The MD complained that while the infrastructure was inadequate to cater for their desired needs and not commensurate to what they pay, the authority kept collecting revenue for services not rendered satisfactorily.

“We have to pay through our noses most of the time, we pay a lot to be in business, everybody is collecting, collecting. I don’t want to go into controversy but it become so bad that before you can even sneeze around the airport, you must pay, everybody is squeezing, squeezing, that’s is a problem, that’s is a challenge”.

Speaking on the audit and training of its personnel he said “IATA Today is a monopoly, you either do it their own or you don’t do it. In those days, I know they have various rates for developed and developing, on training that needs to be looked into and I think that the NCAA might need to take up this, we need the same kind of training to give best services. There was once a time when you need to do ISAGO, ISAGO was like free but today, you have to pay for it, you pay for everything and part of what they come to check has to do with training and so we must training and if you don’t train, you are not in business, and you cannot say because you are a Nigerian company that you can just go and get training that are not certified by this same IATA”.

“Up till recently, IATA introduced what is called ISAGO, and one thing ISAGO was supposed to do was to rest the issue of multiple audits, as a ground handling today, yes once in a while they just come to our company, they look at our ISADO record, they say yes because you are ISAGO, they say okay, but I think up till today, you still see multiple audits coming. What IATA is trying to do with ISAGO, is not cheap for us to do and so anytime audit comes, you just have to do your best to ensure that you don’t fail them. It is a challenge in this part of the world.”

Despite the challenges, he reassured the flying public of the company’s commitment to ensure safe flight because to have a safe flight, the work begins and ends on the ground.