GLOBAL air cargo demand has surged 14 per cent due to shipping constraints and the rapid growth of e-commerce, reports Lagos' BusinessDay.
Passengers across nigerian airports face constant cargo delays due to a shortage of planes to transport goods between states.
The reduction in available aircraft for domestic routes results from Nigerian airlines struggling with fleet reductions driven by high maintenance costs.
Many airlines have sent their planes abroad for maintenance but have been unable to return them due to soaring costs exacerbated by the foreign exchange crisis.
Even airlines using local maintenance facilities face significantly higher costs, forcing some to abandon aircraft, further reducing the number of planes available for passengers and cargo.
Additionally, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NC) has grounded specific aircraft due to the airlines' inability to perform necessary maintenance.
The grounding of Dana Air, a low-cost carrier with a fleet of six aircraft, has further decreased the number of planes operating on domestic routes, limiting the available cargo space even more.
'On a daily basis, we have an average of 50 to 60 tonnes, but this has been really affected by the capacity in the industry. The cargo that we are looking for now is aircraft belly cargo, not the freighter,' said Bi-Courtney head Remi Jibodu.
'Even though we are talking to a couple of airlines that want to bring in freighters, the truth is that we can even go up to 80 tonnes in a day. We can't do that now because of the current capacity.'
SeaNews Turkey
Passengers across nigerian airports face constant cargo delays due to a shortage of planes to transport goods between states.
The reduction in available aircraft for domestic routes results from Nigerian airlines struggling with fleet reductions driven by high maintenance costs.
Many airlines have sent their planes abroad for maintenance but have been unable to return them due to soaring costs exacerbated by the foreign exchange crisis.
Even airlines using local maintenance facilities face significantly higher costs, forcing some to abandon aircraft, further reducing the number of planes available for passengers and cargo.
Additionally, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NC) has grounded specific aircraft due to the airlines' inability to perform necessary maintenance.
The grounding of Dana Air, a low-cost carrier with a fleet of six aircraft, has further decreased the number of planes operating on domestic routes, limiting the available cargo space even more.
'On a daily basis, we have an average of 50 to 60 tonnes, but this has been really affected by the capacity in the industry. The cargo that we are looking for now is aircraft belly cargo, not the freighter,' said Bi-Courtney head Remi Jibodu.
'Even though we are talking to a couple of airlines that want to bring in freighters, the truth is that we can even go up to 80 tonnes in a day. We can't do that now because of the current capacity.'
SeaNews Turkey
