The total cost of private jets acquired by Nigerians has been put at $3.75bn (N581bn), just as stakeholders say the number of such planes in the country has now reached 150.
On the average, each jet costs $25m, and are registered either locally and or in countries such as South Africa or the United States for various reasons.
The rising numbers of private jet acquisitions by businessmen, religious leaders and politicians has placed Nigeria as the leading market in Africa according to the Managing Director, GTBank Plc, Mr. Segun Agbaje.
Speaking at the Nigerian Business Aviation Conference 2013 in Lagos yesterday, Agbaje noted that the most popular jets common among Nigerians billionaires are Gulfstream, Bombardier, Global Express, Hawker Legacy and Dassault Falcon.
The conference, with the theme: ‘The emerging market in business aviation,” was organised by the Evergreen Apple Nigeria. Most of the jets, according to Agbaje, are imported from the United States of America, Canada, Europe, Brazil and South Africa.
He, however, noted that banks in the country were yet to invest in aviation industry because of attendant risks involved with commercial aviation.
The bank boss explained that with the involvement of financial institutions, the sector would record a boost. On the mode of acquisition of jets by elite owners Agbaje said cash acquisition of aircraft accounted for 70 per cent of jet purcheses, leasing, 14 per cent while direct lending was 16 per cent.
He added: “Aircraft financing is a way to deepen banking relationships with top private customers and corporate organisations, but there are some challenges in the financial institutions as most of us don’t realise yet the importance of support for the industry. Nigeria provides a huge opportunity for development in aircraft manufacturing industry.
“Risks and problems associated with commercial aviation is one of the problems confronting the sector. However, most financial institutions will prefer to support business aviation at the expense of commercial aviation.
Business aviation has less risk when compared to commercial aviation.” The International Sales Manager, Gulfstream Inc of the US, Mr. Trevor Esling, described the Nigerian market as a big one in the global aviation industry, saying that the industry is developing at a very high speed.
Esling noted that just like other aircraft manufacturers, Gulfstream was in the country to tap into the potential in the sector with the supply of good and modern aircraft to interested parties in the sector.
The Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Embraer Aircraft Manufacturing Company, Colin Stevens, said the company was already carrying out training for some Nigerian engineers. He said that this was meant to support the industry and operators of their aircraft.
“We are very optimistic of the Nigerian market, which is why we are investing in it. This is a market that has the potential to grow,” he said. Meanwhile, the Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah, yesterday cleared the air on why the New Civil Aviation Policy, NCAP, barred private jet owners in the country from carrying their friends and associates as passengers. She also dispelled the allegation of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, that the new policy had some political undertone.
Oduah in a statement by her Special Assistant on Media, Mr. Joe Obi, explained that it was a common knowledge that some private jet owners in the country were cashing in on the absence of regulation to use their private jets for commercial purposes without the necessary certification as scheduled charter flight operators.
Oduah stated that worldwide, persons intending to conduct only private operations with their jets must be wary of any condition that might result in revenue generation, which she said had not been the case in the country.
She noted that some private jet owners, without due certification for commercial operations, surreptitiously lease their aircraft to ‘friends’ for profit without actually declaring such to the regulatory authorities.
She insisted that aviation practices are global and nowhere is a private jet operator allowed to carry passengers for profit, reward or gain as is the case in Nigeria before the introduction of the new policy last Friday.
The statement reads in part: “The new aviation policy is geared towards restoring sanity in the sector and bringing operations of both scheduled and non-scheduled flight operations to international standard and best practice.
This government will not be distracted from this. Insinuations that the policy is undemocratic, draconian and impracticable are untrue and reductionist.
“With regard to the dust raised by the question of carrying only family members on board a private jet, the point that Lai Mohammed and ACN seem to lose is that the clause relates to the issue of insurance cover.
What this means is that if one must carry persons that are not family members on board a private jet, he must of necessity have appropriate insurance that indemnifies that person in the event of any accident or mishap.
“This is because anyone carrying family members as specified in the new policy is already covered by an appropriate insurance, and therefore does not need approval or clearance from the Director- General of the NCAA. The ACN and Lai Mohammed naively read the clause in isolation of the preamble, which states that “approval or clearance from the DG of NCAA will not be required from Nigerians operating non-revenue flights with appropriate insurance policies.”
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