THE Federal Government has been urged to assist domestic airlines in the country by granting them waivers that will not encourage corruption in the system.

The national president of Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN), Comrade Bejamin Okewu, who made this call while interacting with  aviation journalists in Lagos, however, warned that such waivers should be monitored to ensure that they were  not used to bring in other items that were not related to aviation.

“Government can as a way of policy grant them waivers but not waivers that will enshrine corruption not waivers that will be enjoyed by only one airline or waivers that  people will hide under  to import things that are not relevant to  aviation”   

According to Comrade Okewu, it was proper for  governments  all over the world to come to the aid of some sectors that were sensitive to the development and the growth of a nation.

Other ways to encourage the domestic operators, according to Okewu, include;  reduction of the price of aviation fuel through the construction of refineries to refine the product and the fixing of the 18L runway lighting which has negatively affected local airlines operations in the country as they spend almost twenty five minutes taxing before taking off and landing on the domestic runway.

He described the  time spent while taxing as a waste of money and time, saying  time spent was enough to approach landing in their very destinations. He stated further that If government could add this runway lighting to the re- modeling of terminal, everything would be done  once and  the airlines wastages would be saved.

Comrade Okewu, however, advised domestic airlines in the country to commence  code sharing instead of flying few passengers to their various destinations as all the airlines have their flights almost at the same time because of competition.

“If you enter some of these aircraft, you find out that only half of the aircraft are occupied by passengers Why waste fuel? Why incurr all those expenses when you can code share and save such money? It is done all over the world”