DANA Air as announced a lost of about N4 billion in revenue to shut down by government.
This was contained in a statement issued today Thursday by DANA Air , Head of Corporate Communications, Mr Tony Usidamen, the company’s financial report for 2012 shows that the airline lost N14 billion last year .
He said financial loss to Dana Air due to government’s shutdown in 2012 and 2013 is conservatively estimated about N18billion .
He said : ” It is now over 30 days since the NCAA directive and, though the airline is open and ready for the audit, it is worrisome that there is still no clear indication when the ‘external auditors’ would commence the audit.
The sincerity of NCAA’s planned audit of the airline is now very much in doubt.
The continuous grounding of Dana Air is causing untold hardship for the hitherto gainfully-employed staff of the airline, and with NCAA’s inaction regarding the audit, there appears to be no relief in sight to the sufferings of the airline’s staff and their numerous dependants.
NCAA’s action or inaction is not without consequences for the average Nigerian traveler; the dearth of airline operators creates a near monopoly in the air travel market, to the detriment of Nigerians.
Businesses and the nation’s economy are negatively impacted too, and the genuine efforts by the present administration to attract foreign direct investment in the sector may be jeopardized given the unfair treatment by the aviation authorities to current investors.
It is for these reasons that we, the over 540 directly-employed Nigerian staff of Dana Air, have sent a fresh appeal to the Minister to intervene so that the audit of the airline may be completed without any further delay.
At Dana Air, the safety and comfort of our guests and crew has always been a major priority and we pledge to continue to offer our full cooperation to the NCAA and all other relevant agencies in ensuring safer skies as we strive to consistently deliver world-class air transport services to our esteemed guests.
Since its inaugural flight on November 10, 2008, Dana Air has completed 21,915 flights carrying about 1.8 million passengers with an on-time performance of about 90 per cent .”
The statement further stated:” On October 6, 2013 the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) directed the management of Dana Air to immediately suspend its flight operations to allow for an ‘operational audit of the airline’. The airline complied without delay.
According to the Director General of the regulatory agency, the audit was to be an industry-wide exercise for all local operators, with Dana Air as the first airline to be so audited. However, no other airline was grounded for audit purposes
The airline was also made to understand that the audit was to be carried out by an overseas consultant appointed by the NCAA. However, no clear guideline or time frame was given to the airline’s management for its completion.
As a result of the indefinite suspension, and with no clear direction from the NCAA as to how the audit process would proceed, the airline directed its Nigerian and expatriate staff to proceed on compulsory leave without pay, with a promise to recall staff as soon as the audit is completed
Disturbed by the inaction of the NCAA regarding the audit 3 weeks after, over 540 directly employed staff of Dana Air wrote an open letter to the NCAA on Thursday, 31st October, 2013, pleading with the NCAA to commence the audit without further delay.
The Dana staff letter elicited the first official response from the NCAA on the planned audit. A statement issued to the media by the agency’s spokesperson, Fan Ndubuoke, on Thursday, 31st October, 2013 said that the audit of the airline would commence next week from November, 3, 2013.
However, this is not to be.”
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