The managing director of Skyway Aviation Handling Company Plc (SAHCO), Mr. Basil Agboarumi, has urged the federal government to grant waivers on imported equipment to groundling firms the same way it has done for the airlines.
Speaking in Lagos at an event tagged ‘A Night with Basil’ organised by the League of Airport and Aviation Correspondents (LAAC), Agbarumi reminded the government of the adage that what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.
“We have been talking to government and government has been so good to the airlines. But I think it’s high time the government looked at the side of the ground handling companies. We need waivers on procurement of equipment, just as the government has granted the airlines. Government should also look at how it can reduce our burden,” he said.
He also charged ground handling firms in the country to ensure maximum cooperation in order to impose the right prices on services rendered airlines.
He said handling firms cannot operate in isolation of the entire industry and called on the federal government to intervene in the charges paid by the airlines.
“This is the time I think we need cooperation in the industry. The ground handlers need to come together because we can’t be isolated from what is happening in the sector. What happens to an aspect of the industry affects all since the general duty of us in our various segments of the industry is to see how passengers or goods can move from one point to the other.
“I am one person who believes strongly that ground handling in Nigeria is under-priced and for us to continue to get the kind of ground handling that we require, especially now that things are getting harder for everyone in terms of procurement of equipment, the industry must be ready to take the right step for the right of ground handling that we expected.,” said Agbarumi.
Agbarumi who is the first spokesman in Nigeria’s aviation industry to be appointed as substantive managing director of a major aviation firm, said ground handlers are not paid adequately for the services it renders to the airlines.
