The thriving aviation industry in Ondo State and Governor Akeredolu’s intervention

STEVE OTALORO

The global airline industry was valued at only 359.3 billion US dollars in 2020 due to the coronavirus outbreak and it was estimated to reach 471.8 billion US dollars this year, 2021. The industry includes passenger transportation on scheduled and non-scheduled routes, both, domestically and internationally, as well as cargo transporting.

In the last decade, the aviation industry demonstrated stable growth, which suggested the possibility of continued expansion in the years to come. For instance, revenue in the global aviation industry grew at a compound annual growth rate of around 5.3 per cent between 2009 and 2019, reaching 838 billion US dollars in 2019. The sector’s improved financial performance during this period was driven by the rising number of air cargo operations and the increase in passenger flights.

Although the global commercial air travel industry is booming, passenger yields have been consistently declining over the past years, with a decline rate of 8.7 per cent in 2020. This, however, is much lower than the 11.9 per cent rate decline captured in 2015.

Despite the declining passenger yields, the overall revenue generated from passengers increased in recent years. Several factors explain this divergence. First, the overall number of passengers has been on the increase every year since 2010, counterbalancing the lower yields. Likewise, the passenger load factor has been increasing, essentially, meaning there are increasingly, fewer empty seats on flights.

It is perhaps this heartwarming statistics in the aviation sector of the world economy that captured the interest of Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, to immediately tap into this almost nonexistent sector in the state when he came on the saddle on February 24, 2017, as governor of Ondo State.

One way to measure the number of air passenger ratings in a country is to look at the number of passengers traversing the airports in the country. Alternatively, the frequency of travelling schedule available to airline operations can also be considered, in which case, the newly- energized Akure airport by the administration of Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, has surpassed all expectations.

Nigeria has 32 airports, 26 of which are operated by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), and five of which are functional as international airports. There also exists a state-owned airport located in Akwa Ibom State.

The Akure airport’s expansive land, which spans several acres, is a wonder to behold. Tucked in an agrarian community in the Akure South Local Government Area of Ondo State is a few kilometers from the Akure metropolis, the state capital, one would be thrilled, even from the distance, with the much hard work and vision behind the airport project.

Unfortunately, this humongous landmass airport, which is three times bigger in landmass than the MMA in Lagos has not lived up to the expectations of the assessors in anything close to an airport since it was commissioned by the military administration of General Ibrahim Babangida.

In 2013, FAAN designated 13 airports as perishable cargo airports in a bid to transform the aviation sector into a major revenue earner for the country. The Akure airport was one of them. FAAN promised in vain to develop to international standard the perishable cargo facilities to enhance their operations. The Akure airport is, however, not the only airport with an abandoned cargo project. Eight other airports designated for cargo in the country have faced the same fate.

The Akure airport built by the Federal Government in 1986 as a domestic airport for commercial airlines operation was meant to serve Ondo and other neighbouring states like Ekiti and Osun. The airport, when it was built, stood as a major landmark of the old Ondo State, comprising the present Ekiti State. Unfortunately, it went into a comatose as there was no patronage from any of the airlines in the country. The defunct Nigeria Airways which plied the route in the 80s when the airport was built, only did so for a short time.

The story of the airport changed when the Oluwarotimi Akeredolu administration took over the saddle of the state in 2017. The Governor has a clear vision of what he intends to do with the skeletal services in the airport and the low patronage from domestic airlines in the country which did not acknowledge the airport as commercially-viable for them to operate.

The administration of Governor Akeredolu brought in Peace Airline with the intention of airlifting passengers from Akure to Abuja and from Akure to Lagos at subsidized rate charged on every passenger in order to not discourage its patronage by the high cost of ticketing operations. The state government also helped in creating public awareness for the airline and facilitated advertorials for their patronage.

Arakunrin Akeredolu took it upon himself the role of the spokesperson of the airline. He strongly advocated on behalf of the airline using the weight of his office to talk to the people about why it is easier and more convenient to fly than to travel by road. This public enlightenment campaign resonated with the people and led to noticeable increases in the number of passengers and subsequently increased the flight at the Akure airport route, significantly, from its initial two flights a week to daily commercial passengers’ flights.

With this kind of incentive to airlines operator and investment in the aviation sector by the Akeredolu government, it turned out as a good one for sustainability and paved the way for future development. After the first successful flights, it became imperative that aircraft will form a new, major, transport industry in the state and which will eventually grow the state economy.

As a response to high interest in the aviation sector in the state, the number of trips by the airline increased sharply from the rate of two times a week flights to daily flights. The number of airline operating in the state has also increased from one airline to three airlines which all disenplane passengers from Abuja to Akure and from Lagos to Akure, while at the same time, enplaning passengers from the same route to the commercial capital of Nigeria, Lagos and the Federal Capital, Abuja on  daily basis.

These routes have, at present, become profitable for the airline operators and it holds the records at the fastest growth rate in the aviation industry in Nigeria. It is, now a common sight at Akure airport to see passengers scrambling for the purchase of tickets as they know they can enplaned in Akure in the morning and arrived in Abuja in less than an hour later, and ditto Akure to Lagos in less than half an hour.

This new development has had a positive impact on the economy of the state as its GDP growth rate is an important indicator to suggest that Arakunrin  Akeredolu investing the state resources in revamping the comatose Akure airport that belongs to the FAAN was well thought out as it has yielded huge success for all stakeholders, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, operator of the airport, the aircraft operators, the passengers who throng the airport daily to board their flights and the Ondo State government for its strategic and wise investment of resuscitating the airport which was hitherto out of commission.

Governor Akeredolu’s wise thought to have used the state resources to build a new passenger terminal at the Akure airport, an airport that belongs to the Federal Government, equipped it, upgraded many of the dilapidated infrastructures at the airport before signing an MoU with one of the major airline operators in the country to ply the Akure routes was a necessary expenditure, which has impacted positively on the state economy.

With the success recorded by the airport, Arakunrin Akeredolu has since proposed building a new and a bigger passenger terminal at the airport to cater for the huge influx of passengers in the state and from the neighbouring states of Ekiti and Osun who troop to the airport to buy a ticket to travel to the nation’s capital in Abuja and the commercial hub of Lagos, while, also returning same day to Akure. This is something that could only be dreamt of before the coming of Governor Akeredolu in 2017.

The Governor has been well praised and called upon to appraise his good performance in Ondo State. He has achieved a lot in all the sectors of the state within the short time frame of his administration in the state. However, Arakunrin Akeredolu’s ingenious solution to reviving a dormant airport built several decades ago to a thriving airport and one of the fastest in terms of growth ratio in the country is one big legacy history will record for posterity on a framed scroll.

The constant flight of airplanes at a very low altitude before take off at the Akure airport and while landing has created a tourism-like sight attraction for people living around Alayere, Ayede Ogbese,  Bolorunduro, Ilu-Abo and Oba-Ile axis of Akure South Local Government Area of the state.

Though this type of development does not make headlines, it certainly inspires the people creating some awesome spectacle for the people living in the local setting around the Airport to watch as aircraft are taking-off and landing at a low altitude. Importantly, the re-energized airport, which is a monument and a landmark that cannot be ignored, is a great source of IGR to the Sunshine State.

.Otaloro is Director of Media & Publicity, All Progressives Congress (APC) Ondo State.

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