Can Air Peace MRO save billions spent abroad on aircraft maintenance?

By Dickson Omobola & Matilda Ikediobi

Barring unforeseen circumstances, Nigeria is expected to person an precocious Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul facility, MRO, astatine the Murtala Muhammed International Airport Terminal Two successful Lagos by aboriginal 2027.

Given that section facilities are incapable to conscionable marketplace demands, manufacture stakeholders are excited astir the imaginable impacts specified a facility, to beryllium established by Air Peace, would bring.

The crushed for that is not far-fetched. Nigeria has astir 12 scheduled home airlines, many, if not all, beryllium connected overseas countries for large maintenance, known arsenic C-checks and D-checks.

Although attraction hangars successful the country, including 7 Star Global Hangar Limited, ExecuJet Aviation Group AG and Aero MRO, precocious reported a surge successful patronage owed to the unification of speech rate, astir airlines inactive ferry craft to Ethiopia, Morocco, Egypt, United Arab Emirates and South Africa, among others, for dense maintenance.

Industry reports suggest that Nigerian carriers walk astir $1.5 cardinal annually connected craft attraction abroad. In 2021 alone, home operators were said to person expended $2 cardinal overseas.

The concern inactive has not changed 3 years later, arsenic Nigeria’s largest airline, Air Peace, revealed that it spent N180 cardinal extracurricular the state for the aforesaid reason.

While the persistent superior formation has continued to interest manufacture stakeholders, this situation has spurred Air Peace to commence gathering a N32 cardinal MRO facility.

Although the task is inactive months distant from completion, galore expect it to trim the shortfall successful the manufacture and supply employment opportunities.

The N32 cardinal attraction hangar

Upon returning to Lagos from Brazil connected August 27, aft the Federal Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding that formalised the Bilateral Air Service Agreement, BASA, betwixt Nigeria and Brazil and designated Air Peace arsenic the hose connected the route, Chief Executive Officer of the carrier, Allen Onyema, said arsenic portion of the gains from the agreement, the hose would physique a hangar for maintenance, repair and overhaul, with Embraer providing method support.

At the groundbreaking ceremonial successful Lagos connected September 17, Onyema besides explained that the facility, which would beryllium built connected 34,000 quadrate metres of onshore with the assistance of Bank of Industry, BOI, would beryllium completed successful astir 15 months.

According to him, with specified an MRO, Nigeria would, among others, commencement attracting overseas investments due to the fact that airlines each implicit the satellite would bring their planes for service.

He said: “This volition beryllium an MRO that tin instrumentality wide assemblage planes similar the Boeing 777. It is going to beryllium the biggest MRO successful Africa due to the fact that it volition beryllium capable to instrumentality 1 777 and 5 different planes astatine the aforesaid time.”

What bash stakeholders think?

Guest connected Aviation Scope, a Voice of People TV programme, erstwhile Public Affairs Manager astatine Accident Investigation Bureau, AIB, present Nigeria Safety Investigation Bureau, NSIB, Mr Tunji Oketunbi, precocious explained what the country’s aviation assemblage could summation from a installation susceptible of handling C-checks.

Oketunbi, who identified stopping superior formation and attracting overseas exchange, among others arsenic the benefits, said: “When you look astatine the value of MRO to the nation’s aviation industry, we should beryllium talking astir it due to the fact that for galore years and up to now, we person not had the benignant of MRO that we desire.

“There are definite levels of craft attraction and they are breached into A-check, B-check, C-check and D-check. The A-check is conscionable a mean regular maintenance, and we bash that successful this country. I mean aft the craft flies for immoderate time, it lands, past the engineers connected crushed bash mean regular attraction connected that aircraft.

“For the B-check, it has virtually collapsed into A-check. Where the contented lies present is C-check, which is similar overhauling the motor and important parts oregon the strategy of the aircraft. During C-check, you are looking astatine avionics, motor and each different captious aspects of the aircraft, similar the landing gear. So, the C-check is not no...