Hajj operations: The way out of the woods (I)
Alhaji Aminu Aliyu
Executive Director, Operations, Kabo Air
The 2006/2007 Hajj operation has been widely perceived as the most successful operation in recent times. Expectedly, this success has been attributed to a number of factors. While some see the federal government interventionist approach as responsible, quite a number are of the opinion that the seriousness of various airline operators could be central in determining the factors which actually led to the success. Yet, a school of thought sees the achievement as a manifestation of a collective resolve of the entire stakeholders to make the exercise a huge success. To this school, the relative success of the operation should be seen as that collective responsibility.
It is on ground of these that ATT&E met the Executive Director, Operations, Kabo Air, Alhaji Aminu Aliyu, who shed more light about the historic operation and some of the problems encountered herein.
Answer: We thank God for giving our company the ability to successfully complete this year’s Hajj operation. We were able to airlift over 38,000 pilgrims that had been allocated to us and we are happy to inform you that we completed the airlifting within the stipulated time with outbound and in-bound. As far as this operation is concerned, we are delighted because, this is the first time the airline has airlifted its pilgrims within a stipulated time and also airlifted them back within the time allocated to it without any passenger left behind. Also, as far as the airline is concerned, we had brought all the luggage belonging to the pilgrims since February 7, 2007. This is one of the best Hajj operations Kabo had had in recent time.
The constraints during the operation
Every Hajj operation has its own peculiarities in terms of problem and progress. If there is any problem we encountered during the out-bound (that is during the airlifting of the pilgrims from Nigeria to Saudi Arabia) it should be the one we had with Yobe pilgrims because of the problem with Maiduguri airport. Initially, we were informed that Maiduguri airport would be ready for the airlifting of the pilgrims in that zone but unfortunately up till when we commenced the operation the airport was not ready. Later we were told that 747 and other similar aircraft could not be allowed to land at the airport. Based on this we tried to see if we could provide smaller aircraft to handle the operation at the airport but due to time constraints and legal implication, this could not be possible.
This is because our agreement with PCH was that we were going to use 747 for the operation so we had to start thinking of the best option and the best option we could think of at that time was to airlift the Maiduguri pilgrims to Kano for onward airlifting to Saudi Arabia. That is the only problem we encountered because it was so tedious carrying passengers from one airport to another but we thank God we were able to do this successfully.
Though the pilgrims were not happy, It was the best option. Another problem we encountered, this time during the outbound, that is during the airlifting of pilgrims back home was weather, which prevented our aircraft from landing in airports like Kano, Sokoto and Yola. As you know, diverting them to another airport would mean additional cost. It also created problem to passengers because going to a different airport means you either have to make alternative arrangement to transport them to their various airports or you wait until the weather is clear.
Another problem we faced was that of fuel scarcity in Nigeria where you come to one airport you have no fuel which compels you to go to another. Sometimes, you may not even know of this before you take off from Jeddah. You may arrive in Sokoto only to discover there is no fuel there. It is a big problem because at the end of the day, it cost you more time, more money. In most instances, if the problem is immediately addressed you discover that the airlifting which should take only five days will end up lasting for taking seven days or more. This will not only mount pressure. These are the only major problems save other minor ones which involved many pilgrims rushing to return home after the Hajj exercise with everybody wanting to carry all kinds of hand luggage which also mount pressure on the airline. But I must confess that this year, there was significant improvement in the way the passengers conducted themselves.
The improvement on the conduct was attributed to the good work of most state officials who coordinated and cooperated with the airlines which made the hand luggage issue this year to be controlled in comparison to the previous years.
The measures to contain future problem?
There no measures you can take against natural phenomenon. Perhaps the only way out is for the national airports to be adequately equipped to make it possible for aircraft to land anytime and as you know that is beyond the control of the airline. This is exclusive responsibility of the government. In the area of fuel, we have already submitted a report which the government is looking very seriously into because the Amirul Hajj is aware of the problem and he included this in the report he submitted to the president. I am sure the government will look into it critically so that by next Hajj the problem will have been solved.
How do you intend to address the problem of international pilgrims, since it is part of the problems of airlifting?
I am happy you raised this question because a lot of people do not understand what is happening as far as international pilgrims are concerned. As far as we are concerned both sets of pilgrims are Nigerians. Both pilgrims are authorized to be airlifted by PCH. The difference between the two lies in the fact that while the regular pilgrims go through various state pilgrims boards, the international go through tour operators and airline operators and since the international passengers paid his money to tour operator, he seems to be on his own, since he paid for everything by himself. So he does not have any affiliation to the pilgrims board since it is the tour operator that arranged everything he does while in Makkah and Madina. Kabo Air for instance, is a normal pilgrim carrier and by the agreement signed with PCH the airline should not pick any international pilgrim. If the airline must do that it must not do so within the period it is airlifting the regular pilgrims. The airline is not also allowed to pick the return international passengers within the period when the regular pilgrims are being airlifted home. So the problem with international pilgrim is that he wants to be the last to be airlifted but be the first to come back and that has always been a problem. But for Kabo Air, we did not airlift international pilgrims but we had a chartered flight for some agents and before that the airline had told the passengers before hand that they would not be airlifted to the Holyland only at specific times not that devoted for the airlifting of the regular pilgrims. We instructed our agents, Murna and Oasis, to strictly adhere to that. The only problem we had was with somebody from Abuja who originally chartered Virgin which failed him and later chartered another aircraft which also failed him at the last minute. On the December 23, the company approached Kabo and requested the airline to operate just a single flight for it. This arrangement did not involve the airlifting of the pilgrims back home. Our agreement covered the airlifting of the passengers to the Holyland. It was however agreed that if wanted the airline to undertake a return journey of his pilgrims, it will be done only after the airline had completed the airlifting back home of the regular pilgrims it was designated to airlift. This, he agree with because he was desperate in seeing to the airlifting of his passengers. This actually created a lot of problem in Saudi Arabia to the extent that the Amirul-Hajj had to intervene. The Amirul-Hajj addressed the issue with the airlines because at the end of the day they created a lot of problems in the Holyland.
As for the way out, we had sat down to addressed the problem and we had actually address the problem. We suggested two solutions to airlift international passengers and must equally be well supported because the international passengers are Nigerians like every other Nigerian because whether he is an international or regular pilgrim, in Saudi Arabia they are seen first and foremost as Nigerians, therefore you must give them the necessary support. That is PCH’s responsibility. Another suggestion is that the PCH should appoint alternative airline whose responsibility is to carry international passengers just as you have same for regular pilgrims. This will obviously eliminate the problems being encountered by those airlifting the international pilgrims. On that basis it will then be clear to those who wish to go international route or the PCH may integrate this international carriers with those responsible for the airlifting of regular pilgrims.