The Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc, NAHCO Aviance has concretely commenced its repositioning process to assert its leadership position in service delivery in the aviation industry.  This is evidenced by  the laying of the foundation stone of its new automated  cargo warehouse and the commissioning of  a 32 ton Main Deck Loader in Lagos. The 32 ton Main deck Loader, the first of its kind in the African sub region, was commissioned by the wife of the President, Dame Patience Jonathan last week at the corporate headquarters of the company.  It has the capacity of loading and offloading cargo of about 30 tons in any wide body cargo aircraft including the Airbus, the A380 freighter which is the biggest aircraft in the aviation industry.   The warehouse which is estimated to  cost about N1.2billion, when completed by the first quarter of 2011, will be equipped with mechanical handling and automated systems; new euro-pallets and oversized racks; modern cold room equipment and special storage rooms for dangerous goods and valuables. Other features of the new warehouse include modern ULD storage system; fire detection systems; CCTV and computerized access control system.

 In her speech at the commissioning ceremony, Mrs Jonathan commended the spirit and determination of the Board and Management of NAHCO Aviance in ensuring that the latest technology in the service industry was provided as such would ensure quality service and best practice. She reiterated that the Federal Government was poised to ensure that the nation’s aviation sector ranked among the safest in the world and met all the required international certifications and safety standards as shown by the   recent commissioning of the Total Radar Coverage of Nigeria (TRACON) by the President, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and the attainment of the Category One Certification by Nigeria.

Nigerian First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, while acknowledging that NAHCO Aviance has one of the highest passenger volumes in Africa urged it to leverage the commitment of the Government by ensuring that it gives the best services obtainable in other parts of the world. She enjoined other service providers in the aviation industry to emulate NAHCO Aviance by putting in place modern equipment and improving the services they render to their clientele Speaking at the event, the Chairman Board of Directors of NAHCO Aviance, Senator (General) Ike Nwachukwu disclosed that the company in the last four years had invested over N5 billion in equipment replacement, automation, modernization of infrastructural facilities and manpower development. According to him, the procurement of the equipment was part of the efforts to strategically position the company to leverage the recent attainment of Category One Certification by Nigeria ‘as more doors to economic opportunities would be opened’. To this end he said that the company had embarked on a two-year transformation program ‘that will expand and diversify our core competence’, grow the company’s profitability to achieve a N20 billion turn over mark in the near future. Already, he further disclosed, talks were on going on a strategic business takeover in one of the African countries. He pointed out that the transformation and diversification program was also designed to support the Federal Government’s Power Road Map to make power outages in critical areas to become a thing of the past, while the construction of an ultra-modern warehouse, when completed, would not only boost business activity at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos but would also improve on the infrastructural facilities.Senator Nwachukwu announced that NAHCO Aviance had recently undergone the IATA Safety Audit for Ground Operations(ISAGO), and when certified within few months, it would not only enhance the company’s regulatory requirement status but would make it the first aviation ground handler to attain such status in the West African sub region.The Vice Chairman of the Board, Alhaji Suleiman Yahyah while expressing the happiness of the Board and Management to the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan for coming to commission the equipment, said the new equipment stood the company in a better stead over its competitors. According to Alhaji Yahyah, no other service provider apart from NAHCO Aviance has the equipment to receive wide- bodied aircraft such as the Airbus in the sub-region.He said that as the standard bearer in the aviation sector, NAHCO Aviance would be setting the pace by procuring the most modern equipment for its operations and adopting the best practice in ground support service delivery. The Vice Chairman promised that the Board and Management of the company would not relent in its resolve to properly equip the company to compare favourably with its counterparts the world over.

In his speech at the occasion the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NAHCO Aviance, Mr Bates Sule said that the company which has been  providing ground support services to its clients for over three decades now,  had remained the flag bearer in the sector  because of ‘ the passion, commitment and thoroughness in planning and execution’ by its Management. The Managing Director disclosed that the company ‘has on several occasions re-evaluated its strategy, strength and marketability in terms of manpower, equipment, infrastructure and planning’ which has enabled it to attract the best hands, equipment, facilities and foresight.Mr Sule declared that the new equipment had the capacity of transforming  the face of cargo handling in Nigeria and marked a milestone in the quest of the Board and Management of the company to re-equip it through massive equipment acquisition  for  efficient service delivery to meet the increasing needs of its customers. The occasion was attended by representative of the Minister of Aviation, the Managing Director General, Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority,NCAA, Mr Harold Demuren and other major stakeholders in the Aviation industry.