Agents urge Air Peace, Ibom Air to accept unaccompanied cargo

The Domestic Airport Cargo Agents Association has encouraged Air Peace and Ibom Air to consider opening their aircraft for unaccompanied cargo businesses to generate revenue.

The Chairman of the Board of Trustees of DACAA, Mr Ikpe Nkanang, made the appeal during the inauguration of the association’s BoT and patrons recently in Lagos.

According to Nkanang, the cargo business is a good business and could help close the profit-making gap in the industry.

He said: “Air Peace has the largest number of fleets and Ibom Air is also large on fleets and so we believe that if those two airlines open their cargo rooms, then we will be able to pass a lot of cargo through them.

“The airlines are wasting funds. There are times that the passengers are low and the cargo rooms are empty.

“It is better we fill it up with cargo that will generate revenue for them and also generate employment for those who are working in that industry.”

He noted that Air Peace and Ibom Air were the only airlines that were not carrying unaccompanied cargo.

Meanwhile, Nkanang called on the Federal Government to support the cargo industry with solutions and policies that would help Nigeria attain its height as the cargo and aviation hub of the continent.

He said: “We call on the authorities to provide the infrastructure that will make Lagos the hub of air cargo in Africa.

“With the population of what we have and the industries, the cargo business is not easy,” he said.

“We call on the authorities to provide the infrastructure that will make Lagos the hub of air cargo in Africa.”

Meanwhile, a Director with the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, Mr John Ogala, disclosed in his speech that the Authority was planning to open cargo terminals and had established a Cargo Directorate.

Ogala, pledging FAAN’s support and partnership with the association, said that the public had yet to understand that air cargo is safe, faster and has limited interference.

“So, we are going to partner with DACA, creating an enabling environment, to build a safe, efficient, and cargo-serving community.

“We look forward to supporting you in this entire process and on this note; I would like to tell you that we are opening the Cargo Terminal soon.

“For the operation of cargo, cargo transportation in the industry, we are planning to open up Port Harcourt and Abuja and we plan to take it to the next level.|”

The Acting Chief Operating Officer of Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Ltd, Mr Remi Jibodu, said that the industry must innovate so as not to be left behind in the global community.

He noted that the global community had already gone into digital cargo and Nigeria should key into the trend, adding that digital cargo is basically a cargo marketplace.

He added that referrals grow the business and a lot had to be done on awareness for more people to embrace air cargo.

Also, Mr Musa Ibrahim of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, said that the agency was ready to support and partner with the association to eradicate dangerous cargo.