Nigeria's six leading airlines join forces to create aviation sector umbrella body the Spring Alliance

SIX of Nigeria's leading airlines have joined forces to create an umbrella association known as the Spring Alliance aimed at supporting each other’s operations and delivering quality services to members of the flying public.

Airlines in the alliance include Air Peace, Azman Air, United Nigeria Airline, Arik Air, Aero Contractors and Max Air. Allen Onyema, the chairman of Air Peace and the vice president of the Airline Operators of Nigeria, stated that the Spring Alliance is for the benefit of the passengers who fly with the six airlines.

Mr Onyema said: “By this alliance, our passengers are protected whenever there is a problem with one airline. It is our response to the complaints of the flying public, so this alliance will enable us to satisfy them.

“With this alliance and what we are going to be doing henceforth, the flying public will reap the benefits. For example, if Air Peace has a tech issue on any of its aircraft, the passengers of Air Peace need not to be delayed, if any member of this alliance is going to the same destination, all we need to do is move the passengers over to that other airline, a member of the alliance, at no further cost to the passenger.”

He stressed the alliance represents a revolution in Nigeria’s aviation sector and urged other airlines to tap into the benefits offered by joining it. Mr Onyema added  that the Spring Alliance is not limited to Nigerian airlines alone as other African carriers may wish to join as it is open to the world.

Captain Abdullahi Mahmood, the managing director of Aero Contractors, said: “History has been made here today in Nigeria and this is the first time something like this is happening in Nigeria’s aviation industry. You can see that the airline operators are fully committed to making sure that our passengers are satisfied.

"Like we say, for every challenge, you see an opportunity and probably this is the time that we have seen an opportunity whereby the airlines can come together, work together and have a healthy competition. Whereby at the end of the day, we make our passengers happy and safe.”

Obiora Okonkwo , the chief executive of United Nigeria Airline, added: “There’s no doubt that Nigerian airlines are going through some situations and part of the ways to react to this is to have the passengers in mind. It is simply thinking out-of-the-box.

"We are not reinventing the wheel, we are just adopting what we have seen that has worked in other places. It will surely work in Nigeria so that the passengers going to the airport are more guaranteed that they will  fly.”