One of the important means of transportation in any nation is air transport both globally, internationally and locally. Having an airline is very important as it contributes to economic development, cross border and across border movement etc. It also aids globalization.
Airline is a system of flying, a system of commercial scheduled flights transporting people and goods, or a company that operates such a system. The first sustainable flight was made In 1903, by Orville and Wilbur Wright who were Americans. While The first airline was a German airship company DELAG, founded on 16 November 1909. With this in mind, the first airline service took off in 1914. With regards to Nigeria, the first aircraft landed in 1920, this was a British Royal Air Force aircraft landed in Maiduguri . The second was in 1922 at Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport
In West Africa and Nigeria the history of airline had been before 1958, there were traces of airlines in West Africa; this majorly had colonial intricacies as the British created the British Overseas Airways Cooperation (BOAC) which metamorphosed into to the West African Airway Corporation.
THE WEST AFRICAN AIRWAY CORPORATION (W.A.A.C) AND NIGERIAN AIRWAYS
The West African Airway Corporation was (W.A.A.C) was an airline in operation from 1946-1958, It metamorphosed from BOAC. Thus, The colonial powers in West Africa such as Britain, France and Portugal was said to have influenced considerably the pattern and growth of West Africa airline history, looking at how the four former British colonies had a jointly operated an airline (West African Airway Corporation W.A.A.C).
The destination of The West African Airway Corporation included what is now Sierra Leone, Sudan, Cameroon, Dakar, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal to mention a few. The W.A.A.C was aimed to transport facilities by air for British around West Africa, by the time the states gained independence and became common wealth members, they set up their own carriers and became Ghana airways, Sierra Loene Airways, Gambia Air shuttle and Nigeria Airways.
What is of importance is the W.A.A.C was charged with an objectives to develop air services in and between West African territories. The W.A.A.C laid a foundation for what different West African state incorporated into their airways an example is Nigeria Airways when liquidated became occupied by private enterprises such as Arik .
The W.A.A.C was aimed to transport facilities by air for British around West Africa, by the time the states gained independence and became common wealth members, they set up their own carriers and became Ghana airways, Sierra Loene Airways, Gambia Air shuttle and Nigeria Airways. What is of importance is the W.A.A.C was charged with an objectives to develop air services in and between West African territories. The W.A.A.C laid a foundation for what different West African state incorporated into their airways an example is Nigeria Airways 1971-2003 when liquidated became occupied by private enterprises such as Arik .
Arik Airlines
Arik airlines, is recognized as West Africa Leading airline. Arik Air is a privately Nigerian owned commercial airline that came into being in 2002, when Nigeria Airways was liquidate. In April 2006, Arik Air took occupation of some of the former Nigeria Airways facilities in Lagos .In October 2006, seven months after taking occupation of some of the old Nigeria Airways’ premises and transforming it to a state-of-the-art facility, Arik Air was inaugurated, opening its doors to the travelling public on 30 October 2006.
Additional brand new aircraft have joined the growing fleet which now stands at 28 aircraft, making it the largest airline in Nigeria and West Africa. By the end of 2012, Arik Air had successfully flown over 10 million passengers in under six years of operation across a network of 41 domestic and international routes. It operates an average of 120 flights daily from its two hubs at Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos and Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, Nigeria.
By 2009, Arik Air flight destination and routes includes Johannesburg, South Africa, West African region; linking Lagos to Sierra Leone, Senegal, The Gambia as well as Benin and Ghana. Arik is also known for flights to international destination New York. (JFK) and back to Lagos. What is of important to this work is that this airline has promoted mobility in West Africa states among others looking at the 10 million passengers under six years . It have promoted employment for the people which in turn has promoted development.
West African Airlines
West African airlines was established in 2003 and started operation that same year. It wa a scheduled passenger and cargo airline based in Cotonou, Benin, it operated regional flights. It serviced different destination such as Abidjan in Cote d’voire, Accra Ghana, Banjui in the Gambia, Conakry, Lagos Dakar to mention a few. In 2004 this airline went bankrupt. What is of importance is that it promoted mobility, trade, development of the different state.
Fly Mid Africa
The name Mid Africa Aviation Company Limited, trading as Fly Mid Africa, expresses the ambition and commitment of the owners of the company to establish an emblematic airline for West and Central Africa, which is generally seen to lie in the middle of the continent. Fly Mid Africa therefore exists to fill that void. Starting as an assets management holding company on 29th April 2014,. Fly Mid Africa was licensed as an air operator on 10 August 2015. The central objectives of Fly Mid Africa are to:● Develop a new passenger/cargo airline based in Banjul, The Gambia, with services connecting target cities in West and Central Africa and plans to expand to Europe, the Middle East and the Americas in the medium to long term;● Position Banjul International Airport as the major regional hub and gateway to Africa;● Develop a strong brand associated with high quality products and services.
Fly Mid Africa offers flight throughout West and Central Africa with destinations to Banju, Dakar, Freetown, Monrovia, Accra, Lagos. Looking at the objective of Fly Mid Africa there is evidence of promoting regional integration by being the major regional hub and gateway to Africa.
Med view airline
Med view connects different areas in West Africa, Europe and Middle East. They have promoted integration as Med view airlines have 13 destinations which includes Abidijan(Ivory Coast), Accra (Ghana), Conakry (Guinea), Dakar( Senegal), Free town(Sierra Leone) Abuja(Nigeria) to mention a few
It is important to note that there are other airlines which functioned (BELVIEW, Virgin Nigeria ,Nigerian Eagle Airlines, Air Nigeria etc) and some of which are still functioning in Nigeria( Green Africa airways).These airlines have facilitated movement of people goods and services in and out of different countries inclusive of West African states. People and goods move in timely manner that makes the markets to be integrated which have promoted Development.it has led to provision of Job Through employment creation as many people get employed to work in airlines and banks outside their countries. this has also led to the integration of different people of West Africa. These airlines have been faced with several challenges which has affected its operation in Nigeria some of which includes, bad infrastructures, lack of adequate airport facilities etc.
REFERENCE
Jide Olagbaju and Toyin Falola 1996 Economic Cooperation: The ECOWAS Example in An Economic History of West Africa since 1750 G.O. Ogunremi and E.K. Faluyi Eds Rex Charles Publication Ibadan
http://www.timetableimages.com/ttimages/complete/wt58/wt58-3.jpg downloaded on 06/01/2018
https://www.arikair.com/about-us downloaded on 06/01/2018
https://www.arikair.com/our-history downloaded on 06/01/2018
http://flymidafrica.aero/footer/footer-1/who-we-are/ downloaded on 06/01/2018
http://flymidafrica.aero/fly-with-us/destinations/downloaded on 06/01/2018
Interview with Malang Fanneh a lecturer in The University of Gambia on 4/1/2018
Written by Kadishi Oliseh and Adeyelu Pelumi, presented in Economic history class
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