Bellview Airlines Acquires 2 Boeing 767-200ERs?
Hello,
Did anyone read about Bellview Airlines acquiring a pair of Boeing 767-200ERs? Allafrica.com has the following article (from Vanguard News). Can anyone confirm thjis, and if so, where do they plan on operating these 2 767s? As far as I know, the government has granted them route rights to Mumbai (India) and some West African routes as well. Perhaps they are about to operate long haul flights for their subsidiary Bellview Airlines Sierra Leonne from Freetown? More information is appreciated.
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Oppositions from stakeholders in the Aviation industry have continued to mount against Federal Government's grant of extra frequencies to foreign airlines operating in the country.
Such oppositions are coming against the backdrop of request by the management of Bellview Airlines for the airline to be urgently designated on the busy routes of erstwhile Nigeria Airways to save the country the huge capital flight annually, and Nigerians pains.
Former Director of Operations of Nigeria Airways, Capt. Dele Ore, contended that the request of the foreign airlines for extra frequencies was not only capable of engendering further capital flight, but also work against the interest of domestic carriers.
According to him, what government ought to have done was to designate some strong local carriers to compete with the foreign airlines.
Capt. Ore, now of Aviation Round Table (ART), said the country would continue to suffer capital flight unless something was done urgently to challenge the dominance of foreign airlines.
Aviation safety watchdog, the Nigerian Aviation Safety Initiative (NASI) is also of the opinion that the Federal Government was still confused about putting the nation's Aviation industry on a sound footing.
NASI's founder and executive director, Capt. Jerry Agbeyegbe, wondered what foreign airlines had contributed to the growth of Nigeria's Aviation to deserve extra frequencies.
He said government ought to be working on how to reduce existing frequencies of the foreign airlines who, according to him, had always taken from the country without giving back anything to promote reciprocity.
However, Bellview Airlines' request is coming on the heels of government's approval of extra frequencies for some foreign airlines operating in the country, with a view to solving problems associated with summer rush.
Executive director of Bellview Airlines, Mr. Gbenga Olowo, told newsmen in Lagos that local airlines in the country were capable of competing with the foreign airlines on the routes, otherwise known as juicy routes, including London, New York, Dubai, Jeddah and Johannesburg.
The airline is one of the six domestic airlines recently designated on regional and intercontinental routes by the Federal Government, but Mr. Olowo said the airline could do more than the regional and India routes Bellview Airlines was designated.
"Government will be chasing shadows of solving the perennial problem of passenger suffering enroute known destinations to London and US through reckless granting of extra frequencies to foreign airlines.
"Bellview Airlines raises serious objection to such gesture and submit that the ultimate solution lies in Bellview Airlines designation to provide the much needed service on the routes, if only on temporary basis," he said.
According to him, the granting of seven extra frequencies each to two UK airlines, British Airways and Virgin, amount to mopping up market demand in favour of the UK to the economic detriment of Nigeria.
He said such a development would further widen Nigeria's balance of trade; weaken the naira and erode market share for Nigeria's flag carriers.
Olowo said the major European airlines exploiting the country had never invested in the country's economy, adding that while Bellview Airlines alone has provided jobs for at least 580 Nigerians, all the foreign airlines put together have created jobs for only 248 Nigerians.
Justifying why Bellview should be designated on the busy routes already reserved for the proposed Nigerian Eagle Airlines, Olowo said the airline had the capacity to operate the routes, having operated to such cities as Amsterdam, Nairobi and Bombay for Nigeria Airways, and London as well as Dusseldorf for Ghana Airways in the past.
According to him, Bellview had also successfully operated United Nations movement for refugees and charter service for the West African Peace Monitoring Group (ECOMOG).
He said the airline could boast of a sound safety record, having operated for 12 years without any history of mishap.
Olowo said the airline does not only hold a valid Air Transport License (ATL), Air Operator's Certificate (AOC), but had also capitalised to the tune of N1 billion as requested by government.
He said the airline had also paid the N10 million processing fees for domestic airlines designated on regional and intercontinental routes, in addition to possessing valid insurance of $500 million.
The Bellview Airlines' boss said the airline had put everything in place to be able to compete with the major airlines on the juicy routes, including a computer reservation system based on Gabriel 11, automated ticketing system (ATS) and a national distributing company (NDC) for Galileo, a computer reservation system on which at least 100 Nigerian agents are connected.
Olowo said with the delivery of two Boeing 767-200ER, each with a capacity for 300 passengers in October, the airline would be more than prepared to compete with the major European carriers.
"It is cheaper for Bellview to operate on the routes than BA, and Virgin Atlantic Airways. This is because we are a small carrier; our manpower cost is lower, this is an advantage. "For instance, BA is not buying aircraft currently because it is servicing debt. Besides, it acquired all its aircraft on debt, therefore, those who are talking about Bellview owing FAAN and other parastatals are simply missing the point because there is no entity that does not owe. "What matters is the ability to service debt and that exactly is what we are doing. We are creditworthy," said Olowo, who noted that the airline's membership of IATA since 1994 and current status at IATA Clearing House (ICH) is a further advantage.