Zaria?

[Airways Ed]

Anyone flying into Zaria? or has flown there in the last few years?

Apparently there is a technical school of some sort there with a Caravelle--and I would like to know the identity of that aircraft.

Thanks

[The Unteleported Man]

Where's that Airways Ed?

[Boss Raptor]

Nigerian National College of Aviation Training. It was set up by ICAO in the 70's and has recently been renovated and brought up to date again by them...a lot of my staff, engineers and pilots, are Zaria graduates.

The Caravelle? Never seen it but I will ask, it is probably ex Kabo Air (SAS example I think) or Intercontinental (ex Air France).

Zaria is north of Kaduna, south of Kano, in the central north west of the country. It is quite pleasant and friendly, not a bit like Lagos...

[ZAZOO]

Boss Raptor,

Any chance of checking out my posting. Some advice would be really appreciated.

Thanks.
Zazoo

[Airways Ed]

Thank you Boss Raptor.

It would almost certainly be ex-Kabo Air (ex Air Inter), and all but two of the Kabo Air/Intercontinental Caravelles have been accounted for.

My info came from a chap at ICAO who said that they bought the Caravelle for the school. He tried to confirm its ID through his peers in Nigeria, but--not surprisingly--no joy.

If you haven't seen it there, it may have been scrapped or perhaps it never arrived there in the first place.

[Boss Raptor]

There are two Intercontinental Caravelles hidden in the long grass by the cargo apron at Lagos...found then when exploring!

...And now I've been to your website I know who you are Airways Ed, read Airways magazine whenever I can get it in the UK...nicely done, good airline reports,factual and in depth...miss at least half of the issues as they sell out so quickly and/or I am not in the UK at the right time...never seen a copy of ACARS though!

[This message has been edited by Boss Raptor (edited 13 November 2000).]

[Airways Ed]

Thanks for kind words about Airways, Boss Raptor.

The two Lagos Caravelle IIIs in the grass are also ex-Air Inter. They've been retired for about 10 years. Probably pretty mouldy by now. A couple of intrepid souls have photographed them as they taxied by.

PS We dropped the paper ACAR a couple of years ago and went online with the news.

[middlepath]

Can anyone tell me how is the situation for expat pilots in Nigeria, are the locals still hostile? There used to be lots of threat to expat pilots. If things are calm and quite then I want to give a go, because I miss the star beer and Suya on the beach in Lagos. And also local peper soup.
Cheers.

[Boss Raptor]

The honest answer to your question Middlepath is it would depend who your boss is.

There are several ex-pats with Aero Contractors, Chanchangi, Bellview, Bristows and Express Airways...but nowhere near the number there was in the past. In total I can count the number of expat pilots I know on one and a half hands.

There has been trouble at operators who ACMI leased in aircraft, such as Bellview, ADC and Chanchangi who all had/have aircraft from JAT. Under pressure from the pilots' union the CAA/Government has this year invoked the 'six month ACMI lease'rule so that after 6 months the aircraft must be Nigerian registered. This will cause real problems for Bellview and Chanchangi who have little or no operational infrastructure of their own...

Aero, Bristows and Express all have a good mix about 30% expat to 70% local flight and technical staff and their have been no problems.

Speaking for the company I work for, Express, I can say our moral is very high and their are absolutely no frictions between the staff...the Nigerian crews/engineers are courteous, diligent and integrate well with their ex-pat colleagues.

[middlepath]

Bos Raptor

Thanks for the good news.